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ROBERT BARNWELL ROOSEVELT. 



THE 



GAME FISH, 



Northern States and British Provinces. 



ACCOUNT OF THE SALMON AND SEA-TROUT FISHING OF CANADA AND 

NEW BRUNSWICK, TOGETHER WITH SIMPLE DIRECTIONS 

FOR TYING ARTIFICIAL FLIES, ETC., ETC. 



By ROBERT BARNWELL ROOSEVELT, 

AUTHOK OF "SUPERIOR FISHING," "THE GAME BIRDS OF THE NORTH," "FIVE 
ACRES TOO MUCH," "POLYANTHUS," ETC., ETC. 



ILLUSTRATED. 





G 0PYRiGHT. °#<P 




NEW YORK: 

ORANGE JUDD COMPANY, 

751 BROADWAY. 

1884. 



1 7 



Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1884, by the 

ORANGE JUDD COMPANY, 

In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. 



PKEFACE 



I have said in the first paragraph of this book that a pre- 
face is a sort of apology, and viewing it in that light, my 
apology for writing this, is to explain that the demand for 
a new edition seems to be so large that I ought to comply 
with it. In doing so, a great deal of fresh matter has been 
added to the original text, and the information and direc- 
tions have been brought down to the present time. The 
portion relating to the propagation of fish has been entirely 
remodelled and rewritten, so that nothing of the original 
matter has been left. That was composed before the art of 
fish-culture had been developed, and before a single fishery 
commission had been appointed in this country. Consid- 
erable advance has also been made in the matter of tackle, 
rods, and reels, all of which are far better manufactured 
now in this country, than in any other part of the world, 
even in that birth-place of the fishing art, England herself. 

Having always been an enthusiast with rod and gun, 
attributing to the sports of the field and stream the reten- 
tion of good health amid confining and sedentary occupa- 
tions, I made the preparation of this work a labor of love, 
and have with time come to be more than ever impressed 
with the importance of out-door recreations. Inspiration 
acquired from the woods and streams, and vigor earned by 
exercise in the pure air of heaven are good for the soul as 
well as for the body. 



4 PREFACE. 

Take sportsmen all in all, and there is not only a better 
physical condition noticeable in their muscles, but they 
bear a more universal humanity in their hearts than is to 
be found with mere business men or even among the literary 
or learned. A sympathy exists between them not often to 
be found in other classes of the community. Their grasp of 
welcome seems more hearty, and their expressions of interest 
more sincere. Certainly I have received more cordial kind- 
ness from them than from any other people whom I have 
ever met. 

I was one of the first to press on the State and National 
Governments the importance of establishing fishery commis- 
sions, and being myself appointed on that of the State of 
New York when it was created, in the year 1867, and hav- 
ing remained on it ever since, I have necessarily kept up 
with the times, and all improvements which have been 
made either in the science of fish-culture or in the tools 
and methods of fishing. 

Looking back, and still more I may say, looking forward 
to what the future will bring forth, I have a right to claim 
that in aiding the cultivation and protection of the objects 
of the sportsman's pursuit, and the means of his pleasure, 
in protesting against their unreasonable and improper 
slaughter, and in describing the most legitimate and 
scientific methods, and taking them, I have conferred 
some advantage upon mankind as well as amused some idle 
hours. The Author. 

March, 1884. 



GAME FISH. 



CHAPTER I, 



INSTRUCTION. 



I have always considered a preface or introduction a 
species of apology, and not intending that the following 
sketches shall need any apology, I shall write no intro- 
duction ; but an explanation of the scientific distinctions 
and divisions of fishes may not only be appropriate but 
highly instructive, if my readers be as ignorant as I 
think them. 

It has been a matter of serious reproach by the 
naturalists against the sportsmen, that the latter, instead 
of adopting a uniform nomenclature, call a bird or fish 
in one section of our country by a different name from 
that under which it is known in another ; that a Quail 
and Black Bass at the North become a Partridge and 
Trout at the South. The sportsmen, conscious of the 
justness of the reproach, have submitted quietly to the 
learned stones of reproof hurled at them, and scarcely 
dared to suggest that their persecutors lived in the most 
fragile of glass houses ; that naturalists were liable to 



G INSTRUCTION. 

the same accusation, and that there is hardly a fish, bird 
or beast that they have not called by several different 
names. Are not the contentions of Ortyx and Perdrix 
known to all? Is it quite certain, when we catch an 
Otsego Bass, whether we catch a Coregonus Otsego or a 
Coregonus Albus, or even a Salnio Otsego ? Is it per- 
fectly ascertained from a scientific point of view that we 
catch anything ? Who does not know that a Tautog is a 
Blackfish, or would be materially instructed by hearing 
him called a Tautoga Americana? Scientific men vie 
with one another in creating new names, the most use- 
less things in Christendom ; while sportsmen are happy 
to take them, the game, as they find them. The first are 
guilty of faults of commission, the latter of omission. 
The language of each is Greek to the other. 

The writer of these sketches, knowing just sufficient 
Greek to be a sportsman, and yet able to translate with 
the help of a dictionary, offers, from the want of one 
more worthy, to conciliate all differences. His plan is 
to translate all terms that are translatable, and to omit 
altogether those that are not, trusting that they will 
never be missed. His intention at first was to write a 
noble work on natural history that would carry his name 
in letters of gold, as a public reformer and benefactor, to 
latest posterity ; but finding, on reviewing his stores of 
information, that he knew but little on the subject, he 
was compelled to relinquish the idea. Being therefore 
nothing but a gentle angler, instead of instructing the 
universe, he is content to amuse a small circle of lovers 
of sporting anecdotes, and, provided he receives it, will 
be content with their approval. As, however, one fool 



INSTRUCTION. 7 

can always teach another something, the writer feels 
impelled to mingle a little instruction in doses to snit 
the weakest stomach, that those who have not skipped 
this chapter on account of its title, may at least receive 
something for their perseverance. They need not sup- 
pose for a moment that the writer pretends to insist upon 
what he shall w T rite as infallible, but where his readers 
differ from him, is perfectly willing to admit that he is 
entirely mistaken ; the buyer of a book is always right, 
the author a toujour^ tort. 

He supposes — let there be no misunderstandings when 
he accidentally uses a stronger word — that fishes are 
divided into two great orders, and are distinguished as 
having bony or cartilaginous skeletons ; thus a quawl, 
provided he be a fish at all, would be a very cartilagi- 
nous one, and a catfish with his back fin erected, as the 
writer has often learned to his cost, is a bony fish. 

As the cartilaginous fish are of small account, the 
reader may forget all about them if he wishes, but he is 
recpested to remember the useful division of those hav- 
ing bony skeletons into the great classes, easily distin- 
guished, of the soft finned and spiny finned, called in 
foreign languages by the horrible terms malacopterygii 
and acanthojpterygii — terms unjDronounceable except by a 
Dutchman or a philosopher. These classes are distin- 
guished, as the English words imply, by their having the 
rays of their fins soft and flexible or hard and spine-like. 
The investigator may determine their peculiarities by 
pressing strongly upon the points of the fin rays ; if 
nature intimates that his organism is suffering, the fish ia 
a acanthop, etc. ; if not, why not. 



INSTRUCTION. 




The location of the fins of the fish mark the subdivi- 
sions of the families. The above diagram being supposed 
to represent a fish, and a Trout at that, o is the first back 
or dorsal fin, r the second — in the case of this species, 
mere rayless, fatty matter ; e is the tail fin or caudal— 
the writer, as a married man, naturally avoiding the 



INSTRUCTION. g 

latter term on account of its suggestiveness ; d is the anal 
fin, for which the writer can offer no English substitute ; 
c are the two ventrals or belly fins ; b is the pectoral or 
shoulder fin, having a complemental one on the other 
side of the fish ; and a represents what in learned lan- 
guage are called branchiostegous rays, a name that, 
being translated, means merely gill-rays. What is not 
in a name ! h is the lateral line. Then bearing in mind 
the great divisions of soft and hard finned, the subdi- 
visions are distinguished by the fish having the ventrals 
behind the pectorals and on the abdomen, giving them 
the name of abdominal fish, or before the pectorals, 
giving rise to the name jugular or throat finned, and 
below the pectorals, giving the name thoracic or shoulder- 
finned fish. Philosophers pay little attention to the 
dorsal and anal fins, and fish, without losing their iden- 
tity, can have as many as they please. In caudals, 
unlike human Candles, they are restricted to one. There 
are other fish, such as eels, denominated apodal ov footless, 
because the lower fins or feet are wholly wanting. 

After having examined the texture, number and loca- 
tion of the fins, and counted the number of the rays in 
each, the naturalist next turns his attention to the hard 
bony portion of the head, which covers the gills, and opens 
and shuts as the fish breathes, and which, with the excel- 
lent common sense for which naturalists are notorious, 
he calls the operculum. It is divided into the operculum, 
or gill-cover proper, No. 1 ; the preopercuhwn, or fore 
gill-cover, No. 2 ; the inter-ojperculum, or middle gill- 
cover, No. 3 ; and the sub-operculum, or under gill-cover, 
No. 4. The head, in the foregoing diagram, is intended 

1* 



10 INSTRUCTION. 

to represent the head of a trout, weighing a pound and a 
half, caught at Phillipse's Pond, near Smith Town, Long 
Island. The gill-rays are shown at No. 5. The divisions 
of the gill-cover are faintly marked in the real fish, and 
require some study. 

Lastly, the naturalist examines a fish as a jockey does 
a horse, by looking at his teeth, and with about equally 
satisfactory results. They both are bitten, whether the 
term be used in a literal or metaphorical sense. The 
writer once, after catching a large fish, having heard that 
trout had teeth in their throats, proceeded to investigate. 
Moved thereto by the spirit of inquiry, he thrust one 
finger as far as possible down the trout's mouth, and 
was not a little surprised, as well as pained, to find that 
the throat was lined with teeth sharper than a serpent's, 
and arranged in the same manner. They inclined back- 
ward, and once having penetrated a substance, would 
not and could not let go. The writer having suffered the 
agony that the pursuit of science sometimes involves, 
after exhausting gentle means of escape, and knowing 
that he could no more wear a trout, than the old man in 
the "Decameron" could the protecting ring, with a 
wrench tore away his hand, a bleeding sacrifice to sci- 
ence. Any reader wishing to ascertain the same facts, 
may pursue a similar course. 

On the foregoing diagram, which represents the 
arrangement of teeth in the salmon tribe, No. 6 is the 
upper jaw, and No. 7 the lower ; No. 8, the outer teeth 
in the upper jaw, superior maxillary ; No. 9, the same 
in the lower jaw, inferior maxillary ; No. 10, the inner 
row of teeth of the upper jaw called learnedly the pala 



INSTRUCTION. H 

tine ; No 11, the teeth on the tongue, and No. 12 those 
on the roof of the mouth, or vomerine. The trout the 
writer has examined had no visible teeth on the roof of 
the mouth ; they had either suffered from toothache 
in early life, and applying to a piscatorial dentist, had 
them drawn, or the teeth had slipped down and settled 
round their throats as the writer has already mentioned. 
The reader, therefore, if he wishes to ascertain the 
scientific designation of a fish, should in the first place 
determine the number and location of the fins, the num- 
ber and quality, as soft or hard, of the rays, the number 
of gill-rays, the characteristics and position of the teeth, 
the formation of the gill-cover, and lastly, as every num- 
scull, the drawing teachers assure us, who can write can 
draw, a drawing of the fish, or at least an outline, 
should be made. The latter can be done simply by 
laying the specimen on a sheet of paper, spreading out 
his fins and running a pencil round him. And then the 
would-be naturalist will ascertain whether or not he 
belongs to a class so very liberal as to include salmon 
and smelt in the same category. He must not forget 
that it is much more important to study the nature, 
habits and food of the denizens of the water than to store 
his memory with their names," for our philosophers hith- 
erto, instead of studying their nature, have been em- 
ployed in increasing their catalogues, and the reader, 
instead of observations or facts, is presented with a long 
list of names that disgust him with their barren super- 
fluity." 



12 THE AMERICAN TROUT. 



CHAPTEE II. 



THE AMERICAN TROUT. 



The Brook Trout — The New York Charr—Sahnc 
fontinalis. — Salmon tribe ; ventrals in abdomen, rays 
soft. 

The shoulder and first back fins have each eleven rays ; 
the second back fin is mere fatty matter and rayless, the 
characteristic of the salmon tribe ; the ventral has eight, 
the anal fifteen, and the tail nineteen rays. The back is 
dusky green, mottled with yellow spots ; growing lighter 
on the sides, where the spots have irregularly a beau- 
tiful blue or carmine speck in the centre; the belly 
is silver white, with a roseate tinge as it fades into the 
darker colors of the sides ; the shoulder fins are yellowish 
at the base, the ventrals yellowish red, the anal reddish, 
and in all the rays are dusky. The gill-covers have no 
defined spots. 

The body is covered with delicate scales that will 
escape all but the strictest observation. The teeth are 
on the tongue and throat, but none on the roof of the 
mouth discernible to the naked eye; there is an outer 
row on the lower jaw, and an inner and outer row on the 
upper jaw. This fish is so well known to the public from 
its extensive distribution through the northern States, 
and so totally dissimilar from the Perch and Bass, mis- 



THE AMERICAN TROUT. 13 

called Trout at the South, that a more particular descrip- 
tion does not seem necessary. 

Another fish taken at the North in the smaller lakes is 
called Red Trout, and attains the weight of twenty-five 
pounds. It is rare, and would appear to be an unde- 
scribed species, differing from the trout of the brooks 
and lakes, and not generally known even to sportsmen. 
A fish of a somewhat similar character was on exhibition 
at an eating-house in this city, but appeared to have 
been scaled. It was three feet six inches long, and 
weighed eighteen pounds. The back was very dark, the 
sides being of a lighter neutral tint, without any spots. 
There were a number of vomerine teeth, and the fin- 
rays, as far as could be ascertained by a cu> sory 
examination, were — 

Br. 12 ; D. 13 ; P..11 ; V. 8 ; A. 11 ; C. 19f . 

This fish was said to have been taken in Maine, and 
differed entirely from the ordinary brook and lake trout. 
The fin-rays of the brook trout, as scientifically given 
by De Kay, are — 

D. 13*0 ; P. 12 ; Y. 8 ; A. 10 ; C. 19$. 

Trout are in season from the first of February to the 
first of September in the Long Island streams ; from April 
to September in those streams of the ISTew England States 
that communicate with salt water ; and from May till 
September in the upland waters of the middle and east- 
ern States.* There is but one mode of taking them — 
namely, with the fly ; although it is said poachers and 
pot hunters capture them with worms, minnows, nets, 
and even with their own roe. These villanies are not 
at present punished with death nor even imprisonment 

* These periods do not refer to the game laws. 



14 THE AMERICAN TROUT. 

for life ; but our legislature is looking into the matter, 
and there is no telling how soon such statutes may be 
passed. 

How splendid is the sport, to deftly throw the long 
line and small fly with the pliant single-handed rod, and 
with eye and nerve on the strain, to watch the loveliest 
darling of the wave, the spotted naiad, dart from her 
mossy bed, leap high into the air, carrying the strange 
deception in her mouth, and turning in her flight, plunge 
back to her crystal home, with the cruel hook driven into 
her lips by a skillful turn of the angler's wrist ; to meet 
and foil her in her fierce and cunning efforts to escape, 
paying out the line as she rushes away resistless, meeting 
her in emergencies firmly and steadily, till the tip crosses 
the but, when she insists upon reaching the old stump 
or the weedy bottom ; to slack the line when she leaps 
into air, trying to strike it with her tail ; and above all, 
to watch the right moment, and keeping her head well 
up, to bring the beautiful prize quickly and steadily to 
the net ! There may be others who have killed more and 
larger trout than myself, there may be others who can 
cast a longer line and lighter fly ; but there are none who 
will work more steadily or who can enjoy it more 
intensely. 

There are innumerable rules applicable to trout fishing 
and innumerable exceptions to each; neither man nor 
fish is infallible. A change of weather is always desir- 
able : if it has been clear, a rainy day is favorable ; if 
cold, a warm one ; if the w T ind has been north, a south- 
erly one is advantageous ; a zephyr if it has been blowing 
a tornado. Generally, in early spring, amid the fading 



THE AMERICAN TROUT. 15 

snows and blasts of winter, a warm day is very desirable ; 
later, and in the heats of summer, a cold, windy day will 
insure success. Dead calm is dangerous, although many 
trout are taken in water as still, clear and transparent 
as the heavens above. The first rule is never to give 
up ; there is hardly a day but at some hour, if there be 
trout, they will rise, and steady, patient industry disci- 
plines the mind and invigorates the muscles. A south- 
erly, especially a southeasterly wind, has a singular 
tendency to darken the surface, and in clear, fine waters 
is particularly advantageous ; a southwester comes next in 
order ; a northeaster, in which, by the by, occasionally 
there is great success, is the next ; and a northwester is 
the w r orst and clearest of all. Give me wind on any 
terms, a southerly wind if I can have it ; but give me 
wind. It is not known what quality of the wind darkens 
the water, it may be a haziness produced in the atmos- 
phere, although with a cloudy sky the w^ater is often too 
transparent; it may be the peculiar character of the 
waves, short and broken, as contradistinguished from 
long and rolling ; but the fact is entitled to reliance. 

Slight changes will often affect the fish. On one day 
in June, in the writer's experience, after having no luck 
till eleven o'clock, the trout suddenly commenced rising, 
and kept on without cessation, scarcely giving time to 
cast, till two, when they as suddenly stopped. There was 
no observable change in the weather, except the advent 
of a slight haze, the wind remaining precisely the same. 
I was much disappointed, not having half fished the 
ground and being prevented, by the numbers that were 
taken, from casting over some of the largest fish that 



16 THE AMERICAN TROUT. 

broke. As it was, I caught seventy trout in what is 
ordinarily considered the worst hours of the day. But 
in this particular, also, the same rules apply as to the 
warmth of the weather. In early spring it is useless to 
be up with the lark, even supposing such a bird exists ; 
no fish will break the water till the sun has warmed the 
air ; but in summer, the dawn should blush to find the 
sportsman napping. In fact, trout will not rise well 
unless the air is warmer than the water. They do not 
like to risk taking cold by exposing themselves to a 
sudden draught. 

There is a very absurd impression, that trout will not 
take the fly early in the season ; this is entirely unfound- 
ed. As soon as the ice disappears they will be found 
gambolling in the salt water streams, and leaping readily 
at the fly. At such times, on lucky days, immense 
numbers are taken. In March they have run up the 
sluiceways and are in the lower ponds, lying sullenly in 
the deepest water ; then is the cow-dung, politely called 
the dark cinnamon, the most attractive fly. In April, 
May and June they are scattered, and entrapped by the 
hackles, professor, ibis, and all the medium sized flies. 
In July and August they have sought the headwaters of 
navigation, the cool spring brooks, and hide around the 
weeds and water-cresses, whence the midges alone can 
tempt them. 

Any flies will catch fish, cast in any manner, if the 
fish are plenty and in humor to be caught. A few fea- 
thers torn from the nearest and least suspicious chicken, 
and tied on an ordinary hook with a piece of thread, 
will constitute a fly in the imagination of a trout, pro 



THE AMERICAN TROUT. 17 

vided he follows, as lie sometimes appears to di), the 
advice of the young folks, shuts his eyes and opens his 
month. I cannot recommend such tackle, being con- 
vinced the most skillfully made is the best ; but I do 
advise simplicity of color. One of the best of all flies 
is the female cow-dung, made of a dark cinnamon color, 
and after the pattern used in England ; there is a green- 
ish abomination unj ustly foisted upon American inven- 
tion that is worthless. The hackles are in my opinion 
altogether inferior, except the black-winged hackle, 
which, of a bright warm day, is irresistible. The ibis 
and professor, dressed a V Americaine, with yellow floss 
body and red tail, are both excellent flies. The coach- 
man is the best evening fly, and will attract trout long 
after the angler can see to strike them, and when the 
sound of their plunge alone entices him to continue his 
efforts. The May and stone flies are good, and of late years 
a fly of mixed red and black, with wings, called by some, 
from his colors, the devil-fly, has come into vogue. The 
palmers are only to be despised and avoided. In sum- 
mer, of the midges the yellow sally, the alder fly, the 
little cinnamon, the black gnat, the black and red ants, 
and in fact all others, are attractive. The water is then 
covered with myriads of many-colored flies, and there is 
hardly any artificial but will find its representative among 
the real life. 

These are but a few of the flies that can be pur- 
chased in the shops, which yearly invent new varie- 
ies, regardless of truth to nature or the recommend- 
ations of experience. Many have no names whatever, 
*nd in others the workman has given his fancy such play 



X8 THE AMERICAN TROUT. 

that they are unrecognizable. In these pages, when the 
name is given of any fly described in Ronald's u Fly- 
Fisher's Entomology," it is intended that it shall be 
dressed after the directions therein contained. A more 
full description of the various flies, both in use and to be 
found in our waters, will be given hereafter with some 
directions for tying them ; but a great deal must be left 
to the practical experience of each fisherman, according 
to the range of waters he is in the habit of fishing. 

Good luck, that synonym for all the virtues, does not 
depend so much upon the kind of flies as the skill in 
casting, and a poor fly lightly cast into the right spot 
will do better execution than the best fly roughly cast 
into the wrong place. The lure must be put where the 
fish habit, often before their very noses, or they will not 
take it ; and when they lie, as they generally do in run- 
ning streams, in the deep holes under the banks, where 
the bushes are closest and cause the densest shade, it 
requires some skill to cast properly into the exact spot. 
Sacrifice everything to lightness in casting ; let the line 
go straight without a kink if you can, drop the fly into 
the right ripple if possible, but it must drop gently on 
the surface of the water. An ugly splash of a clear day 
in pure water, and the prey will dart in every direction, 
and the angler's hopes scatter with them. 

A beginner may practise a certain formula, such as 
lifting the line with a waive and a smart spring, swinging 
it backward in a half circle, and when it is directly 
behind him, casting straight forward ; but as soon as he 
has overcome the rudimentary principles, he should cast 
in every manner, making the tip of his rod cut full cir- 



THE AMERICAN TROUT. 19 

cles, figure eights, and all other figures, behind him, 
according to the wind ; bearing in mind, however, ever 
to make his fly drop as gently as a feather. He should 
use his wrist mainly, and practise with each hand, and 
should never be otherwise than ashamed of a bungling 
cast, though he be alone, and none but the fish there to 
despise him. If the line falls the first time with a heart- 
rending splash all in a tangle, it is useless to make the 
next cast properly. The fish have found out the trick, and 
know too much to risk their necks in any such a noose. 

A skillful fisherman can cast almost any length of line, 
but practically, fifty feet, counting from the reel, is all 
that can be used to advantage. Some English books say 
only the leader (gut links) should alight in the water ; but 
this is nonsense, for at least one half the line must fall 
into the water, unless the fisherman stand on a high 
bank. With a long line the difficulties of striking and 
landing the fish are greatly increased ; in striking, there 
is much slack line to be taken up ; in landing, it requires 
some time to get the fish under control, and he is apt to 
reach the weeds or a stump. 

That most excellent fisherman and learned scholar, Dr. 
Bethune, in his edition of Walton, Part II., page 73, 
says that candid anglers must confess that nine out of ten 
trout hook themselves ; this may be so in streams teeming 
with fish, where a dozen start at once, frantically striving 
to be the first ; but in clear, well-fished streams, not one 
fish in a thousand will hook himself; and on Long Island 
an angler would grow grey ere he filled his basket if he 
did not strike, and that quickly. Striking, to my mind, 
is by far the most important point, and hundreds of fish 



20 THE AMERICAN TROUT. 

have I seen escape for want of quickness. It must bo 
done quickly but steadily, and not with a jerk, as the 
latter is apt, by the double action of the rod, to bend the 
tip forward and loosen instead of tightening the line. 
There are days when fish cannot be struck, although they 
are rising freely ; whether they are playing or over-cau- 
tious, I never could determine ; whether they are not 
hungry or the water is too clear, they put man's capacities 
at defiance. Their appearance must be signalled to the 
eye, by that reported to the brain, which then directs the 
nerves to command the muscles to move the wrist ; and 
ere this complicated performance is completed, the fish 
has blown from his mouth the feathery deception and 
has darted back to his haunts of safety. A fish will 
occasionally leap up, seize the fly, discover the cheat, and 
shaking his head, jump several feet along the surface of 
the water to rid his mouth of it, and do this so quickly 
as not to give a quick angler time to strike. How often 
fish are caught when they rise the second time, as then 
the angler is more on the alert, whereas on the first rise 
he was off his guard ! How often fish rise when the 
angler's head is turned away from his line, or when he is 
busy at something else, and how rarely are they caught ! 
In my experience it is so great a rarity, that it might 
almost be said they never hook themselves. In the lan- 
guage of youth, the only hooking they do is to hook off. 
Dr. Bethune, page 97. says the rod should not exceed 
one pound in weight. Indeed it should not, and if it does, 
it exemplifies the old maxim, so far as to ha\e a fool at 
one end. If we could fish by steam, a rod exceeding a 
pound and measuring over fourteen feet might answei 



THE AMERICAN TROUT. 21 

well, but in these benighted days, while wrists are made 
of bone, muscles, cartilages and the like, the lighter the 
better. A rod, and if perfection is absolutely indispens- 
able, a cedar rod of eleven or twelve feet, weighing nine 
or ten ounces, will catch trout. Cedar rods can only be 
obtained in America, and then only on compulsion, but 
this wood makes the most elastic rods in the world. They 
spring instantly to every motion of the hand, and never 
warp. They are delicate ; the wood is, like woman, cross- 
grained, but invaluable if carefully treated. The reel 
should be a simple click, never a multiplier, but large 
barrelled, and fastened to the but with a leather strap. 
The line, silk covered with a preparation of oil, tapered 
if possible at each end, and thirty to forty yards long. 
The basket, positive, a fish-basket ; the angler, compara- 
tive, a fisher-man. 

Thus equipped, go forth mildly approving where the 
writer's opinions coincide with yours, simply incredulous 
where they do not. Ere you begin, however, you may 
w T ish to know the size of the fish you can catch, a matter 
of no little intricacy, for though w r e all know the size of 
the fish we have ourselves caught, there is always some 
one else that has caught larger. My largest trout, at 
the time this is written, was taken on the Marshpee 
River, on Cape Cod, and weighed three pounds and 
fourteen ounces. But it is said there were inland 
brook trout exhibited at the New York Club by a mem- 
ber in the year 1857, the two largest of which weighed 
cleaned six pounds and a half each. "I have my 
doubts." These fish should have weighed, when first 
taken, nearly eight pounds, double the size of any trout, 



22 THE AMERICAN TROUT. 

other than sea trout, I have ever seen or before that 
heard of. In my opinion, they were lake tront, caught, 
perhaps, from a small pond, and bright colored. It was 
claimed they were taken with the fly, which lake trout 
will not ordinarily touch ; but, unfortunately, it was 
also said, that two weighing about five pounds each 
were caught and landed on one cast, and that this was 
done twice. Now confidence in our neighbors' truth 
is the framework of society, but there is a limit to 
human credulity, and catching two five pound trout at 
one cast, is at the very verge of that limit. No one, 
except by the most incredible good fortune, could kill 
two such fish on any ordinary fly-tackle, with any ordi- 
nary fly-rod. The hooks would almost certainly tear 
out, and no strain could possibly be kept on the lower 
fish, which, by slacking up his line and then darting 
away, would probably go free. But great luck alone 
could enable a person to land two such fish ; the lower 
one would never drown, being at perfect liberty — by the 
by, trout never die in the water, they always save 
enough life for one final rush — and when the upper fish 
was landed or gaffed, the lower would go off in a jiffy. 
When a person claims to do this twice in a day, he must 
De pronounced a lucky man indeed. 

We caught our big trout in the Marshpee, and we 
will tell you how we did it, though the words make us 
blush as we write them. "We were young then, and it 
is to be hoped innocent ; and having gone to Sandwich, 
on Cape Cod, in search of untried fields, discovered a 
jolly, corpulent landlord, named Teasedale, who, with 
his friend, Johnny Trout, so named jocosely, wer^ the 



THE AMERICAN TROUT. 23 

fishermen of the neighborhood. That was before the 
stream was preserved for the benefit of the " Poor 
Indian," and poorer fishermen mulcted, as at present, in 
five dollars a day for the privilege of fishing. We drove 
to the stream, almost six miles, Teasedale enlivening the 
early June morning with snatches of hunting songs, and 
when there plunged recklessly in. Oh ! but the water 
was cold — a dozen large springs poured in their freezing 
contents — and the blood fairly crept back to our hearts. 
The stream ran through a narrow defile, overhung with 
the thickly tangled vine and creepers, rendering a cast 
of the line impossible, and had worked its way far under 
the steep banks, making dark watery caverns, where the 
great fish could lie in wait for their prey. We removed 
the upper joint of our fly-rod, which was heavy and 
strong, and leaving the line through the last ring of the 
second joint, we put on a bait next to the fly in beauty 
and effect, the minnow. The water was freezing cold — 
the closely entwined boughs and leaves shut out the heav- 
ens above, and we were alone in the shadowy darkness 
with the tenants of the deep. The herring frequented 
the brook, and pursued by the large trout, darted in 
shoals between our feet. It is always a good sign when 
the herring are running, and we had excellent luck. 

There are several ways of putting on a minnow, and 
if a person from ignorance or necessity must poach, let 
him poach well. There is the gorge-hook loaded with 
lead, the. snell passed by the baiting needle at the mouth 
of the bait and out at the tail, bringing the hooks which 
are double at the mouth. It is highly recommended by 
some English books and their American imitators, but 



24 THE AMERICAN TROUT, 

in my experience is more useful, unbaited, for catching 
snapping mackerel, young blue-fish, than for any other 
purpose. There are the gangs of hooks, consisting of 
two or more small hooks back to back, one of which 
is inserted in the side or back of the bait, with another 
small one further up on the line, which is inserted on 
the lip or nose. It answers well for some kinds of fishing, 
and for large bait, but does not work well with small 
fish. The bait is not bent sufficiently, and does not spin 
readily. 

Then there is the old-fashioned large single hook, 
thrust through the mouth, clown the fleshy part of the 
back and out at the side, or out at the gills and back 
through the mouth into the side. The objection is that 
bait is apt to work down on the bend of the hook, or 
the trout is apt to take off the tail of the bait without 
being hooked. 

The other, and I think the best plan of baiting with 
dead bait, is the same as the last, with the addition of a 
small hook to thrust through the nose, that tends to 
retain the fish in its place, and allow the hook to be car- 
ried down further toward the tail, and still make the bait 
spin well. Minnow is never properly baited, unless it 
spins freely with every motion of the rod, and it must 
ever be kept moving. Of course the line must be armed 
with the swivel-trace, and in baiting with dead minnow 
a Limerick hook should be used, when using worms or 
grasshoppers a hook of finer wire is better. 

The dead minnow is preferable for rapid water. In 
nonds the minnow should be alive, in which case the 
hook is to be inserted in front of the dorsal fin, and the 



THE AMERICAN TROUT. 25 

point may be left under the skin, or exposed, as the 
poacher pleases ; I prefer it covered. It should not 
penetrate the flesh. 

In the Marshpee I was using a single hook, keeping 
the bait well ahead of me, and creeping cautiously in 
the freezing water, watching the tiny float as it danced 
its merry course along, now borne swiftly over the rip- 
pling current, anon caught in an eddy and returning on 
its track, and then again resting motionless in some dark 
and quiet pool. It was scarcely visible beneath the dense 
shadows, and once in a while it would disappear from my 
straining sight ; then followed a sharp blow with my rod, 
a fierce tog, a short fight between fear, despair and cun- 
ning on the one side, and strength, energy and judgment 
on the other. The prey once hooked, and skill there 
was not ; it was a mere contention of two brute forces, 
in which the weaker went to the basket. An exhibition 
of skill or tenderness would have resulted in an entangle- 
ment round the nearest root, and the loss of fish, leader 
and hook. Still, there was excitement ; the situation 
was romantic, the narrow gorge, the deep and rapid 
stream, the closely matted trees and vines, the ever- 
changing surface of the current, which adds beauty to 
the tamest brook, all combined to lend enchantment 
to the scene. The fish were large and vigorous, fresh 
run from the sea, where they had, the Winter long, 
been a terror to the small fry, and early death to 
juicy and unsuspicious shell-fish. They fought fiercely 
for life and liberty, their homes and their household 
gods, and, alas ! too often successfully. The risk of 
their escape added to the interest of the occasion, and 

2 



26 THE AMERICAN TROUT. 

the number of herring darting past gave continual 
promise of the presence of their arch enemy, the trout. 

I had half-filled my basket, and had met with wonder- 
ful escapes and terrible heart-rending losses, mingled 
with exhilarating successes. I had made about half the 
distance, as well as we judged, and felt proud and happy 
as no king upon his throne ever did or will. My rod, 
though a fly-rod, was whipped every few inches with silk, 
and thus strengthened had stood the unequal conflict 
admirably. Still hoping for better things — who will not 
hope for the impossible ? — I strode on. Below me the 
current made a sudden turn at a bend in the stream, and 
eddied swiftly under the overhanging bank. The brook 
almost disappeared in what was evidently a vast cavern 
deep in the bowels of that bank. In such watery palaces, 
amid the worn rocks, the tangled roots, the undulating 
moss and weeds, fierce -eyed, monstrous trout delight to 
dwell. In such fortresses they await unwary travellers, 
and dark deeds are clone in the congenial darkness — ■ 
outrage, riots and murder stalk boldly about. The 
migratory herring, harmless and unsuspicious, peers 
in and starts affrighted back, then peers again, at last 
ventures forward, and then, compelled by instinct to 
ascend, tries to dart hastily by ; there is a sudden rush, 
a frantic struggle, a piteous look entreating mercy of 
pitiless hearts ; for an instant the water is dyed with 
blood and then flows on, washing all trace of the deed 
away. 

I approach the den carefully, the feather-like float 
dancing merrily far ahead over the rippling tide, and aa 
the line is paid out, swaying from side to side, close in 



THE AMERICAN TROUT. 27 

front of the roots that fringe the bank, still not a sign ; 
a step forward — the water carries it under the bank out 
of sight. I stand still, expectant ; nothing yet ; I creep 
cautiously to the very bank, and thrust my rod in the 
water, aye, under the bank its full length. What's that ! 
Ah ! what a tug ! I have him, the monster, the Giant 
Despair of the wayfaring herring. How he pulls! I 
must have him out of his retreat ; it is a great risk but 
my only chance. I strain my rod, my line, almost my 
arms, to the utmost ; he comes, disdainful of surreptitious 
advantages, relying on his great strength ; he has not 
taken protection of weed or stump. Now, my boy, 
do your utmost; yes, leap from the water, dart down 
with the current ; I must give to you a little ; no line 
can stand that strain ; but you will never reach your 
lair again. Turn about, head up stream, that is what 1 
want ; there is a sandy bank above us, can I but reach 
it and land you there. Ah ! you perceive the danger or 
have changed your mind ; how you fly down stream 
with the slackened line hissing through the water behind 
you. Well, go, you will soon turn again. Already, 
beautiful, you have passed the bank ; now, rod, be true ; 
line, do your duty. The pliant ash bends, the upper 
joint has passed below the but in a wide hoop. He 
comes, his head is up ; if I can but keep it out of water ! 
he dashes the foaming waves with his strong tail ; one 
more effort ; bend rod, but do not break ; he is out of 
water ; I have him. He is dancing on the yellow sand 
his last dance in mortal form ; his changing hues glancing 
in the mild light, his fierce mouth gasping, his bright 
sides befouled with sand and dust, his glittering scales 



28 THE AMERICAN TROUT. 

torn off by the sharp stones. His efforts grow fainter ; 
the flashing eye dims, a few convulsive throes and he is 
quiet ; the grim hand of death has pressed upon him. 

He is indeed the prince of monsters, the paragon of 
giants ; so thick, so deep, with so small a head for so 
large a body ; such brilliant hues : the fins so red, the 
blue and carmine spots so numerous and delicate. I 
wash him off and stand gazing at him in my hand 
regardless of further sport. I have captured the king, 
and care not to follow his subalterns. I lay him gently 
in my basket ; he will not lie at full length. I cover 
him with moss, filling the little room left, and forcing 
my way through the overhanging bushes, and, reaching 
the broad light of day, proudly await the arrival of my 
companion. Then the moss is carefully removed, and 
the beauties of my darling are unveiled, and flash and 
gleam in the sunlight. 

There are several ways of landing a trout, but not all 
equally sportsmanlike. Large trout may be gaffed, 
small ones landed in a net, and where neither of these 
means is at hand, they must be dragged out of water, or 
flirted up among the bushes, according to the taste of 
the angler and the strength of his tackle. 

A tyro was once fishing on the same boat with me, 
using bait, when he struck his first trout. One can 
imagine how entirely misspent had been his previous 
existence, when it is said he had never taken a trout, 
no, nor any other fish before. It was not a large fish ; 
such luck rarely falls to the share of the beginner, and 
in spite of what elderly gentlemen may say to the con- 
trary, an ignorant countryman, with his sapling rod 



THE AMERICAN TROUT. 29 

and coarse tackle, never takes the largest fish nor the 
greatest in quantity. Were it otherwise, sportsmen had 
better turn louts, and tackle makers take to cutting 
straight saplings in the woods. My companion, never- 
theless, was not a little surprised at the vigorous rushes 
the trout made to escape, but his line being strong and 
rod stiff, he steadily reeled him in. Great was the 
excitement ; his whole mind was devoted to shortening 
the line, regardless of what was to be done next. We 
had a darkey named Joe with us to row the boat and 
land the fish, and our luck having been bad during 
the morning, he was delighted at this turn of affairs, and 
ready, net in hand, to do his duty. The fish was being 
reeled up, till but a few feet of the line remained below 
the top, when, with a shout of " land, Joe, land him,' , 
my companion suddenly lifted up his rod, carrying the 
trout far above our heads. There it dangled, swaying 
to and fro, bouncing and jumping, while the agonized 
fisherman besought the darkey to land him, and the 
latter, reaching up as far as he could with the net, his 
eyes starting out of his head with wonder at this novel 
mode of proceeding, came far short of his object. Never 
was seen such a sight ; the hopeless despair of my friend, 
the eagerness of the darkey, who fairly strove to climb 
the rod as the fish danced about far out of reach. What 
was to done ? The line would not render, the rod was 
so long we could not reach the tip in the boat ; and the 
only horrible alternative appeared to be my friend's 
losing his first fish. The latter, however, by this remark- 
able course of treatment, had grown peaceable, and 
when he was dropped back into the water, made but 



30 THE AMERICAN TROUT. 

feeble efforts, while my companion, as quietly as he 
could, worked out his line till he could land him like a 
Christian. Great were the rejoicings when the prize 
earned with so much anxiety was secured. That is the 
way not to land a trout. 

One afternoon of a very boisterous day, I struck a large 
fish at the deep hole in the centre of Fhillipse's Pond, on 
Long Island. He came out fiercely, and taking my fly 
as he went down, darted at once for the bottom, which is 
absolutely covered with long, thick weeds. The moment 
he found he was struck, he took refuge among them, and 
tangled himself up so effectually that I could not feel 
him, and supposed he had escaped. By carefully exert- 
ing sufficient force, however, the weeds were loosened 
from the bottom, and the electric thrill of his renewed 
motion was again perceptible. He was allowed to draw 
the line through the weeds and play below them, as by 
so doing they would give a little, while if confined in 
them he would have a leverage against them, and could, 
with one vigorous twist, tear out the hook. When he 
was somew T hat exhausted, the question as to the better 
mode of landing him arose. The wind was blowing so 
hard as to raise quite a sea, which washed the weeds 
before it in spite of any strain that could be exerted by 
the rod, and drifted the boat as well, rendering the latter 
almost unmanageable, while the fish was still so vigorous 
as to threaten at every moment to escape. I besought 
the boatman, who was an old hand and thoroughly up 
to his business, to drop the boat down to the weeds and 
let me try and land my fish with one hand while holding 
the rod with the other. He knew the dangers of such a 



THE AMERICAN TROUT. 32 

course, and insisted upon rowing slowly and carefully 
for shore at a shallow place sheltered from the wind ; 
although I greatly feared the hook would tear out or the 
rod snap under the strain of towing both weeds and 
fish ; once near shore, he deliberately forced an oar intc 
the mud and made the boat fast to it, and then taking 
up the net, watched for a favorable chance. He waited 
for some time, carefully putting the weeds aside, until a 
gleaming line of silver glanced for a moment beneath 
the water, when darting the net down, he as suddenly 
brought it up, revealing within its folds the glorious 
colors of a splendid trout. That was the way to land a 
trout under difficulties, although I still think I could 
have done it successfully by myself. 

Generally, the utmost delicacy should be shown in 
killing a fish, but there are times when force must be 
exerted. If the fish is making for a stump, or even 
weeds, he must be stopped at any reasonable risk of the 
rod's breaking or the fly's tearing out. A stump is the 
most dangerous ; one turn round that, and he is off, leav- 
ing your flies fast probably in a most inconvenient place 
and many feet below the surface of the water. Bui 
remember the oft-repeated maxim of a friend of the 
writer's, who has been with him many a joyous fishing 
day, that " One trout hooked is worth a dozen not 
hooked." Small trout are more apt to escape than largo 
ones, because the skin round the mouth of the latter is 
tougher. With either, however, there is risk enough , 
the hook is small, and often takes but a slight hold ; the 
gut is delicate, and frequently half worn through by 
continual casting. 



32 THE AMERICAN TROUT. 

Fish are, in a majority of instances, hooked in the 
corner of the upper jaw, where there is but a thin skin 
to hold them ; by long-continued struggle, the hole wears 
larger, and finally, to the agony of the fisherman, the 
hook slips out. 

There are occasions when force must be exerted, and 
then good tackle and a well-made rod will repay the cost. 
At dusk one night I cautiously approached the edge of a 
newly-made pond that was as full of stumps as of fish, 
both being about the extreme limit, and casting into the 
clear water, struck a fine fish of three-quarters of a 
pound. Not one minute's grace did he receive, but I 
lugged and he fought, and after a general turmoil I suc- 
ceeded in bringing him to land, in spite of weeds and 
stumps and twigs, which he did his best to reach. The 
same was clone with seven fish after a loss of only three 
flies, and with a rod that weighed but eight ounces. 

A rod is not so apt to break from a fair strain as from 
a short twist ; of course, if you strike i large fish as yon 
raise to cast, or catch in the bushes behind yon when 
your line is extended, any rod may break. This, how- 
ever, rarely happens, and you are as likely to break the 
tip by trying to pull the line through the rings with your 
hand, or by lifting a small trout out of water and swinging 
it in past you, as in any other way. In drawing a fish to 
shore when you have no landing net, step back and 
bring the strain evenly on your rod, and it will rarely give 
way. If you find the fish takes down the current and 
you are unable to hold him, follow him if you can, and 
if not, point your rod toward him and bring the strain on 
the line. The hook may tear out, or the gnt may break, 



THE AMERICAN TROUT. 35 

or even the line may be lost, but you will save your rod, 
while otherwise you would probably lose both. 

In landing a fish, wait till he is pretty well exhausted, 
bring his mouth above water and keep it there till he is 
drawn into the net, and warn your assistant to remove 
the net at once if he gets his head down. By diving 
after him with the net, the assistant would certainly not 
catch the fish and might tangle one of your other flies. 
The fish should be led into the net, and the latter kept 
as still as possible ; he knows as well as you do what it is 
for, and if his attention is drawn to it, will dart oft* as 
madly as ever. 

There are occasions and situations where a fly cannot 
be used, and a minnow — called clown East, from the Indian 
name mummy chog, a mummy — cannot be obtained. In 
such cases it becomes necessary to fall back upon first 
principles. A grasshopper, twitched along the surface of 
the water in a way called skittering, is an effective bait, 
although an imitation grasshopper, as well as an imita- 
tion minnow, does not answer and will not deceive trout. 
Salmon and trout roe are used, and it is said, contrary to 
the writer's experience, with great success. Gentles, 
which are grubs hatched in meat that has been fly- 
blown, are a favorite bait in Europe ; but, in spite of 
their beautiful name, are horrible objects and not in 
vogue with us. Caddies, or the larvae of the Phry- 
ganidce in their cases, are also in use there, but not 
here. We must, therefore, have recourse to the angle- 
worm. 

The finest worms are to be found in tanyards ; they 
should be placed on the top of damp moss, left for a 

2* 



34; THE AMERICAN TROUT. 

night or two to work themselves clean, and then placed 
io other moss sprinkled with milk. They become strong, 
light colored and lively, and should be threaded on a fine 
hook by passing the point in at the head of the worm 
and out half-way down the side ; then in, half up the 
side of another, and forced nearly to the head. Worms, 
if cast as in fly-fishing, are very attractive, and will fre- 
quently kill an immense number offish. There is much 
skill in casting so as not to tear off the bait, and yet to 
cover an extent of water 

In rapid streams, whether with bait or fly, always fish 
down stream ; there is less noise, the line is kept taught, 
the fly looks more natural, and unless the wind is strong 
against you, it will be much easier and pleasanter fish- 
ing. Move the bait continually ; keep it in motion 
under all circumstances ; this is the great secret of bait- 
fishing. 

I have also heard of shrimp preserved in whisky 
being used, and think they might answer for fish that 
have just run from the salt water ; but as frequent 
experiment with the live shrimp has proved their inferi- 
ority to minnow, I have little faith in them. 

The trout is admitted to be the most beautiful of all our 
fish ; not so large nor powerful as the salmon, he is much 
more numerous, abounding in all the brooks and rivulets 
of our northern States. He lives at our very doors ; in 
the stream that meanders across yon meadow, where the 
haymakers are now busy with their scythes, we have 
taken him in our early days ; down yonder in that wood, 
there is a brook filled with bright, lively little fellows ; 
and away over there we know of pools where there are 



THE AMERICAN TROUT 35 

splendid ones. Who has not said or thought such words 
as he stood in the bright summer's day under the grate- 
ful shade of the piazza running round the old country 
house where he played, a boy ? 

He does not make the nerves thrill and tingle like the 
salmon, he does not leap so madly into the air nor make 
such fierce, resolute rushes, he has not the silver sides 
nor the great strength ; but he is beautiful as the sunset 
sky, brave as bravery itself, and is our own home dar- 
ling. How he flashes upon the sight as he grasps the 
spurious insect, and turns down with a quick little slap 
of the tail ! How he darts hither and thither when he 
finds he is hooked ! How persistently he struggles till 
enveloped in the net ! And then with what heart-rend- 
ing sighs he breathes away his life ! 

There is no fish like him. Lay your prize on a bed 
of moss, which is his natural resting-place ; look at 
the exquisite hues like shotten silk, the dark spots, the 
carmine specks, the single first white ray in his fins, and 
the rich red of the second extending to the lower edge of 
the abdomen ; the greenish-mottled back, the silver below 
— what a picture for the painter, if his brush could catch 
the evanescent tints. How proudly and fondly we gaze 
on our beautiful prize, not with the mere rude, brutal 
pride in securing so much booty, such a sum in money 
value, or a delightful dish for the table, but with an affecta- 
tion that is hard to explain to those who are not anglers. 
The sportsman is more fond of the game he pursues and 
more anxious to preserve it from destruction than the 
most pretentious humanitarian of animal worshippers. 
The angler is proverbially the most gentle of men, he is 
fond of nature, peaceable, contemplative, patient; he 



36 THE RUNNING TROUT. 

admires the grandeur of the woods, the rugged strength 
of the rocks, and the changing splendor of the sky. He 
listens with pleasure to the murmur of the brook, the 
songs of the birds, and the rustle of the wind. 

The man who kills to kill, who is not satisfied with 
reasonable sport, who slays unfairly or out of season, 
who adds one wanton pang, that man receives the con- 
tempt of all good sportsmen and deserves the felon's 
doom. Of such there are but few. 

We seek this, our favorite fish, in early Spring, when 
the ice has just melted, and the cold winds remind one 
forcibly of bleak December, and when we find him in 
the salt water streams, especially of Long Island and 
Cape Cod ; but we love most to follow him in the early 
Summer, along the merry streams of old Orange, or the 
mountain brooks of Sullivan County. Where the air is 
full of gladness, and the trees are heavy with foliage — 
where the birds are singing upon every bough, and the 
grass is redolent of violets and early flowers. There we 
wade the cold brooks, the leafy branches bowing us a 
welcome as we pass — the water rippling over the hidden 
rocks, and telling us, in its wayward way, of the fine fish 
it carries in its bosom. With creel upon our shoulder and 
rod in hand, we reck not of the hours, and only when 
the sinking sun warns of the approaching darkness, do 
we seek, with sharpened appetite, the hospitable country 
inn, and the comfortable supper that our prey will fur- 
nish forth. 

The brooks of Long Island, especially on the south- 
ern shore, abound with trout. But they are few in com- 
parison with the hordes that once swarmed in the 



THE AMERICAN TROUT. 37 

streams of Sullivan and Orange counties, and in fact all 
the lower tier of counties in this State, before the Erie 
Railroad was built, and opened the land to the crowd of 
market men. I am proud to say I have travelled that 
country when it took the stage coach twelve hours to go 
twenty -four miles, and when, if we were in a hurry, we 
walked, and sent our baggage by the coach. Now you 
are jerked along high above our favorite meadows, 
directly through our wildest hills, and often under our 
best streams, at the rate of forty miles an hour, and yet 
people call that an improvement. As well might you 
lug a man out of bed at night, drag him a dozen times 
round his room, and fling him back into bed, and say he 
was improved by the operation. ~No one wants to be 
lugged out of bed, precisely as no one wanted to travel 
beyond Sullivan County ; the best shooting and fishing 
in the world was to be found there. 

When the railroad was first opened, the country was 
literally overrun, and Bashe's Kill, Pine Kill, the Sand- 
berg, the Mon Gaup and Callicoon, and even Beaver 
Kill, which we thought were inexhaustible, were fished 
out. For many years trout had almost ceased from out 
of the waters, but the horrible public, having their 
attention drawn to the Adirondacks, gave it a little rest, 
and now the fishing is good. 

If you go there, stop at George Durrance's, in "Wurts- 
borough, and if he boasts of fishing, as he will,* ask him 
whether he remembers going to the Sandberg one day, 
many years ago, to show a Yorker how to catch trout. 

It was a bright sunshiny clay, and as we drove up to the 
edge of the bank, above a clear, rapid, sparkling stream, I 

* If he is alive at this writing. 



38 THE AMERICAN TROUT. 

saw a large trout leap heavily out of water, where the cur- 
rent swept with a swirl past a high rock. As I rigged up 
my flies, George borrowed my knife to cut a pole,^as he did 
*iot have much faith in " them things," and while he was 
gone, I crept cautiously up behind the rock, and cast 
over the further projecting point. I could not see my 
flies alight, but heard a splash, and striking felt I had a 
splendid fish. He fought bravely, but by keeping him 
in the upper part of the pool, the lower end by the rock, 
was not disturbed. After some trouble, I landed him, 
having no net. Then approaching the rock with the 
same caution, the performance was repeated, only this 
time my rod was broken in endeavoring to land the fish, 
and it was necessary to find George and obtain my 
knife. 

I discovered him under the bushes on the bank, in a 
miserable state — it was oppressively hot — his rod was a 
long sapling, and naturally heavy — the sky and water 
were clear, and the fish would not touch the worm, 
which we could see from where he sat. He had only 
taken two miserable little fish. He did no better all 
day, and while I rose and killed fish after fish, he did 
not take another one. When afternoon came, and he 
impatiently urged me away, my basket was so full it 
broke down, and he had his two fish. On reaching his 
house, the boys spread our respective takes out on a 
board, and to George's deep chagrin exhibited them to 
the entire village. He has not taught a " Yorker" how 
to catch trout since. 

So much for your countryman, with his bed-cord for 
line and stick for pole, and yet George was admitted to 



THE AMERICAN TROUT. 39 

be the best fisherman in that neighborhood. A person 
residing near a stream, and having fished it from infancy, 
and acquainted with its every pool, has an immense 
advantage over a stranger ; but there was only one coun- 
tryman ever beat me trout-fishing, and he, after taking 
me to the stream, slipped off and waded it down ahead 
of me. 

All the streams that, taking their rise in or near this 
State, flow into the Delaware or Susquehanna, are filled 
with trout; the Tobyhanna, the Bushkill, Broadhead's 
Creek and a thousand others, that the Erie and Lacka- 
wanna railroads now make easy of access. While Hamil- 
ton County, Essex, the region of the Adirondacks, Clinton 
County with its Chateaugay and Chazy Lakes, and the 
Saranac River, and Eranklin County with its innumera- 
ble ponds, offer all the sport that the heart of man can 
desire. All the streams of ISTew England, especially in 
the neighborhood of the White Mountains, are filled 
with small trout ; while the State of Maine, in Moose- 
head Lake, the Kennebec, and its other fine rivers and 
lakes, affords the finest brook trout-fishing in the world. 

The angler may, therefore, seek his darling close to 
his own summer-house, or may drop in at any of the 
many well kept taverns on the south side of Long 
Island, where he will find every comfort and most of 
the luxuries of the day, will meet other enthusiastic 
fishermen, who will relate varied and interesting expe- 
riences, and exchange views and fancies with him, 
and will prove themselves, if real fishermen, the most 
obliging and unselfish gentlemen in the world ; or he 
may seek the lonely hotel at Lake Pleasant or Moose- 



40 THE AMERICAN TROUT. 

head Lake, where he will still find comfort in a rougher 
way, and wonderful good sport ; or he may boldly strike 
out into the trackless woods, commit himself to his birch 
canoe and trusty guide, and then, if he be made of the 
right stuff, I promise him such happiness as he will never 
forget — merry innocent days and dreamless nights, 
health in every limb, and contentment in his mind.* 

There is no fish more difficult to catch, nor that gives 
the true angler more genuine sport than the trout. His 
capture requires the nicest tackle, the greatest skill, the 
most complete self-command, the highest qualities of 
mind and body. The arm must be strong that wields 
the rod ; the eye true that sees the rise ; the wrist quick 
that strikes at the instant; the judgment good, that selects 
the best spot, the most suitable fly, and knows just how 
to kill the fish. A fine temper is required to bear up 
against the loss of a noble fish, and patient perseverance 
to conquer ill luck. 

Hence it is that the fisherman is so proud of his basket 
of a dozen half-pound trout, he feels that any one more 
awkward or less resolute could not have done so well. 
He feels conscious that he does not owe his success to 
mere luck, but has deserved the glory. He feels that 
he has elevated himself by the very effort. Do not sup- 
pose I mean that there is no skill in other fishing; 
there is in all, even in catching a minnow for bait, but 
aost of all in trout-fishing. 

* Since that was written, many of these waters have heen depleted, and Long 
Island has been so thoroughly preserved that there is hardly a free pond or stream 
from one end to the other of it. 



SEA TROUT. 41 



CHAPTER III. 



SEA TROUT. 



Salmo Trutta Marina — Salmon Trout — White Trout. 

This fish corresponds precisely with the description 
given by Dr. De Kay of the Speckled Trout, Salmo Fon- 
tinalis, except in the following particulars : 

I can find no teeth in the vomer or central part of the 
roof of the mouth any more than I can find them on the 
common brook trout, and I have examined great numbers 
of the latter for the purpose. The pectorals are nearly a 
transparent white, slightly tinged with red at the origin 
of the rays, except that the second ray is darkish. The 
first ray of the ventrals is yellow, the second dark, the 
third and the others orange fading into white ; the origin 
of the ventrals is directly under that of the first dorsal. 
The first ray of the anal fin is orange, the second and 
others dark green, growing lighter toward the tail, the 
origin of the second and third rays being yellowish. 
The scales are very small, imbedded in the skin, and 
there are neither scales nor defined spots on the gill- 
covers. The fin-rays are as follows : 

Br. 12 ; D. 13 ; P. 13 ; V. 8 ; A. 10 ; C. 19^. 

The branchial rays seem to differ sometimes, the same* 
fish having eleven on one side and twelve on the othei, 
and the highest one is a half ray or small plate. The 



42 SEA TROUT. 

anal, properly speaking, has eleven rays, but the first ia 
so delicate and so lost in the fleshy part of the fin, that 
it is hardly distinguishable. 

The coloring of these fish differs greatly from that of 
the common trout, but it is universally conceded that 
color is no test or distinction of species. "When fresh 
run from the sea, and when still inhabiting the salt 
water, they are gloriously brilliant ; their backs a liquid 
bluish green, the under part flashing like molten silver. 
The spots and scarlet specks on their sparkling sides are 
of a purer tone, and the lower fins more slender and 
delicate. 

They are found in the bays of Prince Edward's Island, 
in the harbors of New Brunswick, and in all the gulf 
and river of St. Lawrence and its lower tributaries. In 
Frank Forrester's "Fish and Fishing," a letter from Mr. 
Perley, the British Commissioner of Fisheries, is quoted, 
page 123, in which he says these fish do not ascend into 
purely fresh water. In this I am reluctantly, out of 
respect to his great experience as a fisherman and high 
standing in scientific attainments, compelled to differ 
from him. I have unquestionably taken these fish far 
above tide water, and have the best authority for saying 
that usually, if not invariably, the larger trout at least 
ascend to the head-waters of the mountain streams to 
spawn. I venture to say that no large sea trout are 
taken in the tide water after the last, and rarely after 
the first of August. It is probable that he has been 
misled by the- fact that there are trout in the same 
streams that never descend to the sea, and there is a 
marked difference in color between them and theij 



SEA TROUT. 43 

biethren, although I believe they are the same fish. For 
the correctness of these views, reference can be made to 
the experience of many authorities that would be satis- 
factory to one that I esteem and respect as much as I 
do my excellent friend and brother of the angle, Mr. 
Perley. While mentioning his name, it will not be 
amiss to tender him, in the name of the fishermen of the 
United States, our thanks and grateful acknowledgments 
for the invariable kindness, courtesy and good humor 
with which he has answered the numerous questions 
entailed upon him by his mention in Frank Forrester's 
u Fish and Fishing," and the valuable aid and advice he 
has furnished the wanderers from the States in their 
search for piscatorial happiness. Combining as he does 
the heartiness of an Englishman with the sociability of 
our own country, we are proud to claim him, while 
he remains in our vicinity, as half an American. But 
let me, at the same time, suggest to my countrymen, 
that there is a limit even to the best of tempers, and 
that, although each one may only put a few questions 
and take up a little valuable time, the total combined 
may be annoying, inconvenient, and even excessively 
burdensome.* 

In addition to the positive fact of taking sea trout 
above tide water, it is to be remarked as a habit of all 
trout to ascend in summer to the cool sources of the 
springy brooks, and our common trout will invariably 
be found, after the warm weather is at its height, either 
in the rivulets that feed the ponds where they dwell in 
winter, or at the head- waters of the ponds. The sun's 
rays are so powerful that they affect any sheet of open 

* Since then passed away. Peace and happiness be with him. 



44: SEA TROUT. 

vater, especially the harbors and bays of the ocean, and 
the fish will not live there, but withdraw to cooler 
regions. A remarkable case of this kind fell under the 
writer's observation at Masapequa Pond, which is uni- 
versally admitted to be the best preserve on Long Island. 
It is rather small, and quite shallow except in the chan- 
nel, and being entirely unsheltered, is liable to become 
heated in hot weather. The spring had been remark- 
ably mild, and in the middle of May, after a number of 
days that reminded one of June, I visited Masapequa, 
and, although the weather was favorable and a lively 
ripple darkened the water, only two trout were killed 
in the entire morning. I was much discouraged and 
surprised, until happening to get my flies caught, I put 
my hand into the water and found it milk-warm. The 
explanation was simple, and I at once told the proprietor, 
who had been more astounded than myself, that the fish 
had run out of the pond into the brook ; and there, sure 
enough, we shortly discovered them lying in the deep 
pools in shoals. 

If they cannot retire to cool, fresh, aerated water, they 
will perish, as happened one dry, warm season in a pond 
at Oyster Bay, which, although well filled with trout, 
had no extensive head-waters. The fish crowded round 
the flume, hardly disturbed by being touched with a 
stick, remaining motionless, and evidently suffering. 
They died and were picked up by scores. 

If sea trout do not ascend the fresh streams, where do 
they spawn ? From the habits of all the salmon tribe, 
we know they must have a current of pure and cool 
water to vivify the eggs, and they certainly cannot find 



SEA TROUT. 45 

this along the shores and Days. Their eggs must De 
deposited on a gravelly bed and not on sand, and as the 
bottom of the salt water, which is purely sand, even if 
appropriate spawning ground, is peopled with all sorts, 
shapes and sizes of creeping, crawling and burrowing 
things, from sand-worms to sea-eggs, the spawn would 
be utterly destroyed long before it could come to ma- 
turity. If, in spite of all these difficulties, the eggs 
should hatch, the young fry being entirely helpless for 
thirty days, and little able to take care of themselves 
afterward, would be annihilated by their elder brethren 
or the first sea fish that came along. Young trout, in 
their appropriate localities, hide carefully in little spring 
rills and close along shore for months after they are 
hatched, and not till well grown and active do they 
trust themselves in the deeper places among the larger 
fish. Nature has taught them that the latter have an 
excessive fondness for them. 

Whether sea trout spawn earlier than brook trout, 1 
do not know, but very possibly they may, as in cooler 
countries fish usually spawn earlier than in warmer ones. 
However, in August the roe is not developed to any 
great extent ; no more so, apparently, than with us, and, 
although the Canadian Winter sets in earlier than ours, 
trout do not fear the cold. The regions they inhabit 
being extremely difficult of access in the freezing season, 
this question may remain some time unsolved. 

Whether sea trout should be ranked as a distinct 
species, or whether there are any different species of 
trout in America, has been a serious question. It is a 
great misfortune that every naturalist, in his eager 



40 SEA TROUT. 

endeavor to discover new species and originate new 
names, lias caught at the slightest distinctions in appear- 
ance, which are often only due to food or water, and has 
immediately dubbed the fish a knight and endowed him 
with a new name — frequently some horrible Latin per- 
version of his own. Real distinctions are those perma- 
nent ones that no change of food and water can affect, 
nor the chance influence of a few shell-fish or a muddy 
bottom. There are distinctions between these trout and 
brook trout, of color, comparative size of different parts 
of the body, formation of the head and fins ; but not 
more so than one often meets with in fishing any of the 
streams of Long Island that communicate w T ith the sea, 
or even in the different streams of the w T ild woods. The 
sea trout of Canada certainly do far excel the ordinary 
trout in size, being taken, with the fly, weighing nine 
pounds, and the ordinary average being from three to 
four; but otherwise they seem to have no permanent 
peculiarity that should distinguish them from the com- 
mon brook trout. All other distinctions fade after the 
trout have been for some time in fresh water, and a late 
run of sea trout differs far more from those which have 
ascended the streams a month earlier than the latter 
from the brook trout. Indeed, some sea trout have 
become domesticated in the fresh water, and never 
returning to the sea, have settled down, although often 
f great size, into the ordinary trout. 
In Stump Pond, on Long Island, and the adjacent 
waters, are four different varieties of trout: the old- 
fashioned Stump Pond Trout, *w T itha black mouth, a 
long, thin body, a big head, and a wolfish, hungry 

* The old Stump Pond trout has of late years wholly disappeared. 



SEA TROUT. 47 

look; the Salt Water Trout, with a small, sleepy head, 
a deep body, and a rich coloring, small fins and red 
flesh ; the Brook Trout, long, narrow, brightly marked, 
gracefully shaped and lively; and a trout which has 
appeared in a new pond, scarcely yet completed, with a 
dark, strong coloring, very black on the back, a thick, 
stout body, and a well proportioned head. Any one can 
distinguish these fish at a glance, but must they each 
have a different name, and a Latin one at that? 

The fresh run sea trout of the North have beautiful 
silver sides, almost as bright as a salmon's, and in this 
particular, at least, differ from the salt water loving- 
trout of Long Island and Cape Cod. Their heads are 
small, delicate, and exquisitely shaped, and their lower 
fins are small and almost transparent. The heads of the 
males are larger, and the lower jaw more hooked than 
those of the female, and these differences increase as the 
spawning season advances. The head of the female 
bears a comparison to that of a modest, refined lady, 
while that of the male resembles the big head and ugly 
jaw of the struggling, quarrelling, but protecting man. 
A.t times their flesh is a bright red, often a dull yellow 
and rarely whitish. The shape of their bodies is grace- 
ful and broad across the back, to a greater degree in 
both particulars than the sea run trout of Long Island 
and Massachusetts. But as they ascend the rivers, and 
after they have been some time in their new abode, these 
peculiarities diminish, the color of their backs turns from 
a beautiful green to a dull black, the splendor of their 
silvery sides fades, and the heavy spots and roseate tinge 
appear ; their translucent fins grow opaque and strong 



4:8 SEA TROUT. 

from greater use in the swift current ; their shape even 
seems to alter, and they are altogether unlovely by com- 
parison with their former selves. Are they, therefore, 
" like Cerberus, three gentlemen at once," and entitled 
to three distinct appellations, or are they simply our 
dearly loved old friends, the Speckled Trout t 

The change in appearance of these fish cannot be ex- 
plained by the suggestion that the ordinary brook trout 
ascend the rivers and mingle with those of the sea, be- 
cause the latter are to be caught in every stage, from the 
brilliancy of the fresh river fish to the dull colors of the 
oldest inhabitant. And it will be noticed that at the 
heads of the rivers a bright-colored fish is rarely met with, 
although they must be, with few exceptions, all sea trout. 

The best trout rivers of Canada are troublesome to reach, 
difficult to ascend, and seldom attempted by any but the 
salmon fisher. To the latter, the trout, attractive as he 
seems to us, is a trial and a nuisance. Abundant and vora- 
cious, he often rushes in advance of the lordly salmon, seizes 
the fly, and then discovering his mistake, by his struggles 
disturbs the pool, ruffles the fisherman's temper, and 
frightens the larger game from its equanimity. He is 
therefore little noticed by the frequenters of the head- 
waters, except to be denounced, and his delicate peculi- 
arities seldom considered and less esteemed. He is princi- 
pally sought in the tide water along the shores, or from 
boats in the open bays, but rarely followed to his summer 
home. The statements, therefore, of Canadian fishermen 
with regard to him must be cautiously received and care- 
fully weighed ; their experience may not have been snf- 
ciently extended. 



SEA TROUT. 49 

Whatever be his name, he is a beauty, the fairest of 
the children of the sea. There are others of more varie- 
gated colors, of gaudier hues, of more slender shape, but 
the trout is lord of all. He is the pet of the true fisher- 
man, whether taken by the name of Kalmo trutta in the 
bays of Canada, weighing over ten pounds, or as Salmo 
fontinaMs, in the mountain streams of Vermont, reach- 
ing not one quarter as many ounces. In Canada, 
sportsmen — and none others seem to fish — take the sea 
trout solely with the fly. In June, and earlier, they are 
found in the tide waters, and there prefer gaudy flies. 
The scarlet ibis, or curry-curry of South America, dressed 
as it is ordinarily done, or diversified by a little gold or 
silver tinsel wound round the body, or indeed the entire 
hook wound with tinsel alone, is by many preferred to 
all other flies ; but the red hackle, the golden pheasant, 
the professor, the grey drake, and in fact any gay fly, 
will meet with approval. A much admired fly is made 
of a red body and yellow wings ; but the more sober 
colors must not be forgotten nor neglected, they are 
often more successful than their gaudy relations. As 
the season advances, and the fish ascend the clear, cool 
rivers, especially if the water be low and the weather 
dry, the sober flies are preferable. Then the cow-dung, 
the alder-fly, the turkey-brown, the winged black hackle, 
and in fact all the ordinary flies, are in demand ; a fly 
invented by myself, of a blackbird's wing and a claret 
body and legs, and called the early fly, has often proved 
itself uncommonly killing ; and indeed all the flies usu- 
ally employed in other waters are appropriate for the sea 
trout in Canada. 



50 SEA TROUT. 

Neither does the size of hook differ from that ordi 
narily in use ; it should average about a number nine, 
with a few somewhat larger for rougb water. It is 
rarely desirable, on account of the enormous size of the 
fish, to use more than one fly at a time, and generally 
the trout will soon remove the difficulty by reducing 
them to that number ; but at times, when fish are shy, 
they seem to be attracted by seeing several. In order to 
kill the largest possible quantity, without any regard to 
humanity or sportsmanship, a heavy fly-rod is desirable, 
as much time is lost in landing them with a delicate 
rod. 

For many hundred miles below Quebec, the majestic 
St. Lawrence rolls its transparent waters in a steady 
surge toward the ocean. Forward and backward heaves 
the mighty tide, piling up the waters eighteen and 
twenty feet ; but the steady current keeps on its course 
toward the gulf. Into this wonderful stream, that can 
only be likened to an arm of the sea, at every few miles 
debouches from the granite hills a river, more or less 
extensive and more or less rocky and turbulent. These 
rivers rise on the mountain tops, cold and clear, and 
thunder down over falls and rapids, through chasms and 
gorges split in the eternal rock, till they leap, tumble or 
crawl into that outlet of a thousand lakes, the highway 
of the Canadas. 

These streams the salmon and trout ascend, there to 
disport themselves, there to make love, prepare their 
nests, and perpetuate their species. The water is cool, 
running from the frigid regions of the north or supplied 
by icy springs, and the bottom offers every variety of 



SEA TROUT. 51 

spawning beds. There is the stony pool for the salmon, 
the pebbly one for the trout, and never do the two 
spawn, and rarely even live, in the same. The pool 
where the salmon lie is deep and rapid, with a bottom 
composed of dark limestones averaging about the size of 
a bantam's egg. While the trout hide in a sluggish pool, 
and often one worn away by the water and hollowed 
from a clay bank. It is a tradition, but one by no means 
well substantiated, that trout never eat young salmon, 
nor salmon young trout. As trout are more fond of their 
own species than almost any other delicacy, it is not 
probable they would be fastidious about swallowing a 
nice, juicy little salmon. 

The country through which these streams run is very 
peculiar : rough hills of granite rise almost perpendicu- 
larly from the edge of the water, many hundred and 
sometimes many thousand feet. Their sides are bare 
and bleak, and if adorned at all with verdure, it is with 
a stunted pine and spruce, that only half hides the white 
rock beneath. The streams wind in tortuous course 
among the crags, and slowly gain a liigh elevation. 
These bare, unprofitable hills extend back from the north 
shore of the St. Lawrence as far as the foot of man has 
penetrated, and only at long intervals by the shore of 
some of the larger rivers, where forty centuries of storms 
have worn away and washed the detritus from the moun- 
tain into some little bay, have half civilized beings been 
enabled to build rough cabins and glean a scanty sub- 
sistence. Thus are these waters, the home and nursery 
of the trout and salmon, protected forever by nature 
against the pervading destructiveness of man. Judicious 



52 SEA TROUT. 

kiws have been passed and will be enforced by the Cana- 
dian government, and the American fisherman may 
find in neighboring waters what he will never again see 
in his own, these noble fish dwelling in abundance, and 
protected from worthless, wanton and unreasonable 
destruction. 

It is a burning shame, a foul blot on the character of 
Americans, and tarnish on their reputation lor far-sighted 
economy, that their only idea of the treatment of the 
wild game of the woods and waters seems to be total 
annihilation. " After me a desert," is their motto ; and 
they never rest till, by planting snares and liming 
streams, they have caught the last partridge and poi- 
soned the last fish. Thus have they already destroyed 
one of the most valuable resources of the country ; the 
Hudson, the Connecticut, the Penobscot, and even the 
Kennebec, yield no more salmon, and we yearly pay to 
Canada enormous sums for what we once had, and might 
still have, in plenty on our own shores. HSTot many 
years ago a person buying shad on the Connecticut 
River was required to take such a proportion of salmon. 
Now that the head-waters are covered with tanneries and 
saw-mills, and are crossed by dams without the simple 
expedient of a flume that the fish could ascend, and now 
that early salmon are worth a dollar a pound in New 
York market, where are the former denizens of the Con- 
necticut ? 

All the timber cut on the streams would not pay for 
the damage done to the fisheries. In Canada the people 
have discovered, fortunately for them not too late, the 
importance of stringent protective laws. The nets can 



SEA TROUT. 53 

only be set within a certain distance, and cannot extend 
across the entire stream. In Lower Canada the net fish- 
ing terminates on the first day of August, and the rod 
fishing on the fifteenth of September, and spearing, the 
most cruel, unprofitable and injurious mode of destruc- 
tion, is forbidden altogether. 

About one hundred and twenty miles below Quebec 
the wondrous Saguenay pours its dark waters and 
fierce current into the placid bosom of the St. Lawrence. 
It is one of the natural wonders of our still new and 
scarcely explored country. Hills rise a thousand feet 
sheer up, and its waters descend a thousand feet deep 
at their base. The St. Lawrence, at its mouth, is 
only some thirty feet deep, but the bottom suddenly 
descends at the entrance to the Saguenay, and becomes 
from five hundred to a thousand feet in depth. The 
breadth of the Saguenay is so great that the grandeur 
of the mountains is lost to the eye, and the scenery is 
remarkable more for ruggedness than beauty. At the 
mouth of this river was the first station of the Hudson 
Bay Company, a little village called Tadousac, which is 
pronounced with the emphasis on the last syllable, and in 
that village stands the mission church of the Jesuits, the 
oldest in the country 

Close to Tadousac, and almost adjoining at the back, 
is a still smaller village called L'Anse a 1'Eau, and 
although great ships no longer lie at Tadousac, and the 
houses are fast falling to decay, and the good men of the 
olden days have long gone their last journey, and the trap- 
pers are never more seen around the famous station, and 
the glory of the Hudson Bay Company has departed, 



54 SEA TROUT. 

the trout and salmon coast along the rocks and visit the 
inlets as they did when priests promenaded the natural 
terraces of Tadousac, and when the shortest road to the 
Northwest was up the Saguenay River. The trout care 
not though the iron horse has sprung two great leaps 
across the water that they live in, and know not that a 
woman, the only Catholic that can read, officiates as 
higli priest in the sanctum of the woman-haters, the 
mission church of the Jesuits. 

The St. Lawrence abounds with most delicious food 
for trout ; there are acres of small fish ; the sand eels 
crowd the bays yards deep, the sardines, the mullet, the 
capelin, the tommy cods, push and jostle their way 
along, .while shellfish innumerable cover the sandy bot- 
tom. Flies swarm on the water, and the deep rivers in 
Winter and the cool streams in Summer constitute the 
paradise of the salmonidce. 

Along the shores of the tide water, early in Spring the 
trout and salmon make their appearance, and wandering 
about pass the merry days of May, June and July in 
feasting and junketing, in visiting new scenes and tast- 
ing every variety of food, till instinct warns them the 
waters are falling, and they must hasten to their syl- 
van bowers and enjoy the pleasures of love and paternity. 
Then slowly, the largest first, they leave the tide waters 
and swarm up all the practicable streams, running the 
rapids and steadily advancing to their pebbly spawning 
beds, which kind nature appears to have prepared in the 
heart of these impassable mountains for their especial 
protection. Through all this season, June, July and Au- 
gust, the fishing is magnificent ; they are in great 



SEA TROUT. 55 

numbers, and of immense size ; but after they have 
once left the salt water, the angler must accompany 
them in their ascent if he would continue his sport, and 
by clay struggle in his canoe against the rapids, up which 
he hears them darting at night. 

While the fish are still in tide water, and the fisher- 
man is fishing from the rocks, the head of some bay 
into which flows a stream of fresh water, and the time 
of the lower half of the tide, are both desirable. The 
former as furnishing a variety of food, and the latter as 
contracting the fishing ground. The eddies of a swift 
current, and the hollows of a rocky bottom are both 
affected by the fish ; although they are often found 
along a smooth sandy shore, chasing the minnows, and 
now and then dashing at a fly or sand-hopper thrown 
off the land. It is nothing unusual to capture a hun- 
dred fish in as few hours as it will require to land them, 
and often the only limit to the number will be the 
sportsman's humanity. They are a difficult fish to pre- 
serve ; it seems sacrilegious to salt them ; they are not 
good pickled in brine, and smoking is both injurious 
and troublesome. The fisherman, if he would not have 
them rot before his eyes, must put a bridle on his eager- 
ness. 

They run very large, sometimes above a dozen pounds, 
are often taken of Hve and six, and frequently a whole 
day's catch will average three pounds. They are found 
at the mouth and along the shore of every river that 
empties into the lower part of the St. Lawrence. They 
ascend the Saguenay, and are taken at and near its 
mouth in great numbers, and in fact everywhere in the 



56 SEA TROUT. 

lower St. Lawrence and all its tributaries they abound, 
It would be more difficult to tell where not to find them 
than where to find them. But the best trout-fishing sea 
son is later, when they have followed the salmon and 
retired to the upper waters of the mountain streams, 
where they lie together in shoals, in the deep pools. 
Then they may be traced by the wake their motion 
leaves in the water ; then may the fisherman, casting a 
long line and careful fly, pick the finest and go on fish- 
ing till heart and soul are satisfied. There, amid the 
wild scenery, at the foot of the granite hills, by the 
shade of the stunted spruce, he may take his stand upon 
some point of rocks, near to a black pool, and deftly 
wielding the slender rod, may bring to the net one after 
another of the mighty denizens of the water. But even 
then, if he would take the mightiest he must prove him- 
self a sportsman by keeping out of sight and casting far 
and straight. And when his sport is terminated by the 
declining day, or his ample satisfaction, and he meets 
his companions round the camp-fire, over a well cooked 
supper improved by a vigorous appetite, he will exchange 
experiences of the habits of fish or the arcana of the 
angler's art. 

If, however, he loves the " wet sheet and the flowing 
sea," a nautical anomaly, by the way, he may pursue 
his prey in the open bays, and with a smart breeze and 
long line, and gaudy fly dancing from wave to wave, 
have great sport. Under these circumstances the fish 
are almost uncontrollable and must be often followed 
with the boat for a long way before they can be killed. 
It is gloriously exciting, the bright waters sparkling with 



SEA TROUT. 57 

foam, the light boat leaping over the billows, the sky 
magnificent in its depth of blue, the fresh breeze cool 
and strong ; and the fish just hooked, furious, vigorous 
and courageous, rushing hither and thither, plunging to 
the bottom or springing high out of water. Then the 
exciting chase as he takes off fortunately down wind, 
and exhausts all but the few last turns of line on the reel 
till it becomes a question of speed between him and the 
boat, and at last his final surrender and capture. Truly 
is it magnificent. 

Riviere du Loup, a little Canadian village situated 
on the St. Lawrence, opposite the mouth of the Sague- 
nay, is now connected with Quebec by railroad, and 
is only a day and a half distant from New York. It 
affords good accommodations, but there is no place any- 
where on the Saguenay or at its mouth where the trav- 
eller can stop. * The Habitans although generally will- 
ing to offer such accommodation as they possess, are too 
dirty in their habits, and often too much beloved of 
creeping things to suit American taste. So that as there 
is little or no trout fishing at Riviere du Loup, the 
angler must make his arrangements for a camp-life, and 
would do well to descend the St. Lawrence in a pilot 
boat, which he can hire with a man and boy for two 
dollars a day, and stop at the mouths of all the streams 
that debouche into it. The river is over twenty miles 
wide, and he must look out for storms, as these boats 
are open and by no means good sea boats. At night he 
can go ashore, build a fire, put up his tent, and call into 
requisition the numerous luxuries this mode of travelling 
will enable him to carry. 

* A fine hotel has been built at Tadousac. 



58 SEA TROUT. 

A steamboat ascends the Saguenay twice a week, and 
he can either take it at Quebec or join it at Riviere du 
Loup, and by this means enjoy a trip through the bold 
scenery of that celebrated river, and can either return to 
Riviere du Loup, or take a pilot boat at L'Anse a l'Eau. 
There is a generous-hearted Englishman living at L'Anse 
a l'Eau, but he has been compelled to refuse admission to 
all strangers, as any infraction of that rule would have 
led to his being overrun. 

Many of the streams of Lower Canada are leased to 
private individuals, and there are few good accessible 
salmon streams open to the public, but the sea trout fish- 
ing along the St. Lawrence and at the mouths of most 
of the streams is free to all. In Nova Scotia and New 
Brunswick, and at Prince Edward's Island, there is as 
yet no restriction, and both salmon and trout are the 
property of him who can catch them.* Nowhere, how- 
ever, can any salmon fishing or good trout fishing be 
had except by camping out. Canadian canoemen can 
be obtained, if not required to furnish canoes, for sixty 
cents a day, although the Indians, who are far superior, 
command over a dollar, and where the angler is unac- 
quainted with the water he is to fish, he had better take 
the latter. They are, however, willful and exacting, 
and sometimes stubborn and troublesome, while the 
former are the best-natured fellows in the world, full of 
fun, song and frolic, but often too fond of the liquor 
case. 

The best river of Lower Canada is the Mingan, but if 
it is not already leased it soon will be. It can be reached 
by steamer that leaves Quebec semi-weekly, stopping at 

* License is now required for Ashing in the British Provinces anywhere. 



SEA TROUT. 59 

G-aspi, at Batliurst on the Bay de Chaleurs, which is near 
Nipisiquit, the best river of New Brunswick, at several 
places along the route, and finally at Shediac, whence 
there is a communication with St. John or Halifax. 
The steamer running at the time this is written is the 
Arabian, and leaves Quebec every alternate Monday. 
The Nipisiquit is within a few miles of Batliurst, where 
there is good accommodation, and boatmen can be 
obtained without difficulty, or the fisherman may con- 
tinue his travels to Dalhonsie, at the mouth of the Resti- 
gouche, and try either that or the Matapediac. Another 
mode of reaching the fishing grounds, is to go to St. 
John, and thence by steamboat to Fredericton, and 
cross over by land to the Miramichi, at Boiestown, where 
there is excellent trout and fair salmon fishing. A list 
of the distances from Quebec, together with further 
instructions, is given under the head of salmon fishing, 
as the rivers we have mentioned are properly salmon 
rivers. 

The sea trout fishing is so fine, that many persons 
prefer it to taking the larger salmon, and can be indulged 
in almost anywhere along the shores of New Brunswick, 
Nova Scotia, Prince Edward's Island, Newfoundland 
and Lower Canada ; and were it not for the heavy fogs, 
the Bay of St. Lawrence would be a favorite resort of 
our adventurous yachtsmen. The Galway line of ocean 
steamers now touches at Newfoundland, whose waters 
abound with the finest fish. 

The sea trout ascend to the head-waters of the Mira- 
michi quite early, so that there are none of large size 
to be caught in the lower section by the middle of 



60 SEA TROUT. 

July. In that river they average from two to five 
pounds' weight. But the Tabasintac, a stream half-way 
between Chatham and Batlmrst, is the most famou? 
sea trout river of New Brunswick. I do not know of 
any sea trout along the southern shore of New Bruns- 
wick. 

The scientific designation of this fish is not yet settled, 
although the United States Fish Commission have given 
it their attention, and it is to be dreaded that, numerous 
as he still is, the sea-trout will have disappeared before we 
know what to call him. 

Canada and the Provinces have been immensely devel- 
oped since much of the above was written; travel is 
easier, pleasanter, quicker, and accommodations better. 
But with this improvement have come fishing restrictions, 
license fees, and government interference, which more 
than counterbalance the advantages. 



A. TRIP TO THE LA VAL. (ft 



CHAPTEK IV. 



A TRIP TO THE LA VAL. 



A beautiful breeze was blowing down between the 
grand old hills of the majestic Saguenay on that first 
day of August when Walton* and myself started from 
L ? Anse a l'Eau in one of the oddly-shaped pilot-boats of 
the St. Lawrence, for a visit to the Bon Homme la 
Yal. The Bon Homme la Yal, a beautiful and roman- 
tic stream that falls into the St. Lawrence about sixty 
miles below the Saguenay, tradition asserts was named 
by the pious Canadians in the early days of the country 
after a beloved father confessor. But time and the 
English, equally utilitarian, have contracted it into sim- 
ply La Yal, and the origin of the name, together with 
the piety that suggested it, is almost forgotten by the 
present generation. The sun was shining brilliantly, and 
the strong northwest wind curled the waves of the 
ancient river, and crested them with foam ; the dark 
waters surged in their falling tide; the stunted trees 
shivered in the blast; while the granite hills were as 
immovable as they had been mid storm and calm for 
many thousand years ; but the pretty little village was 
all astir with our departure. 

It is a fanciful place, with the white houses 
perched in a nook between the whiter rocks, while the 

* Hon. Wm. F. Whitcher, late Superintendent of Fisheries of the Dominion, 
p.nd as skillful an angler as ever handled rod or wet a line. 



62 A TRIP TO THE LA VAL. 

graceful roofs and white- washed walls shining in the 
sunlight, produces a picturesque effect. The few English 
families residing there, and their many friends on visit to 
them, made an agreeable society, drawn closer together 
by its seclusion from the world at large ; and bright eyes 
looked brighter when there were none others by. 

The world of L'Anse a l'Eau was collected on the 
wharf to witness our departure — the Canadians because 
they had no better employment, the English that they 
might bid us adieu. Our pilot-boat, called by the Cana- 
dians chaloupe, an open boat some five-and-twenty feet 
long by seven wide, was crammed full of our numerous 
traps, plunder or baggage, as it would be variously 
styled in different parts of our land of freedom. The 
fishing rods, and one gun, devoted to the destruction of 
bears for lack of smaller game, were carefully stowed ; 
small barrels, at present filled with meat, but destined to 
return filled with fish, lay side by side with baskets full 
of more delicate provender ; tents, bedding and innumer- 
able other articles occupied every inch of room. We 
were experienced in woodsman life, and had no idea of 
suffering the want of luxuries that could be easily car- 
ried with us, and would never trouble us on our 
return, unless they did it in spite of our teeth. There 
were preserved soups, meats and fruits, sauces of many 
kinds, tea and coffee, the latter ground and in bottles of 
essence ; there were brown, white and maple sugars, 
concentrated milk, flour, indian and oatmeal, barley, rice 
and potatoes ; liquors of many kinds, and other things 
too numerous to mention. For our protection from the 
weather, we had two tents and waterproof cloth sufii- 



A TRIP TO THE LA VAL. 63 

cient for a make-shift, two indian-rubber blankets apiece^ 
one coated on the side the other in the middle, water- 
proof suits, plenty of blankets, flannels, and warm 
clothes ; and such other things as a gentleman ordinarily 
carries on a journey. As a defence against the mosqui- 
toes, black flies, sand flies, and other like torments of 
Satan's invention, there were veils, the oil of tar, and a 
mixture of glycerine, turpentine and spearmint. Above 
our treasures were carefully stowed our two canoes, 
bottom upmost. In a heavy sea they cannot be towed, 
as they are apt to fill and tear to pieces. 

Few persons know how beautiful and delicate a canoe 
is. It is manufactured only by the Indian ; in that the 
white man has never equalled him. The best is made 
from a piece of white birch bark, stripped from the tree 
in springtime, damped, and after being cut away to the 
requisite extent, molded into the proper shape. The 
inside is covered with gum, and a thinner piece of bark 
fitted upon it, so that though the outer bark be torn, it 
still does not leak. Over this are passed thin strips of 
red cedar, lengthwise of the canoe, and crossing them at 
every inch are ribs of the same wood. The gunwale is 
formed of a stout stick of hickory or ash, laced to the 
sides, and four strong but slender thwarts bind the whole 
firmly together, and serve for seats or supports. Inferior 
articles are made of but one thickness and of poorer 
bark. The shape differs according as they are manufac- 
tured by the Mountaineers or Micmacs, the two tribes of 
this region, the former building a long, narrow and 
graceful boat, easily capsized even for a canoe, and well 
suited for travel in smooth water ; while the latter build 



64 A TRIP TO THE LA VAL. 

a broader and flatter boat, drawing little water and bet 
ter suited for shoals and rapids. They are mostly 
manufactured on the south side of the St. Lawrence, 
birch-trees of the requisite size having almost disappeared 
from the north shore. The bark is composed of innu- 
merable layers, and is the only known substance that 
would stand the rough contact with rocks that canoes 
experience. A volume could be written on the wondrous 
qualities of birch bark, the woodsman's invaluable trea- 
sure ; to him it is a boat, a tent, a table, a plate, a cup, a 
basket, a pail, a basin, a frying-pan, a tea-kettle, a candle, 
a flambeau, a cooking oven, writing paper, kindling 
wood, and almost all the other conveniences or necessa- 
ries of life. 

The chaloupe being loaded, a long farewell shouted 
loudly that our spirits might not fail, and we turned our 
backs on L'Anse a l'Eau, the pretty bay at the water- 
side. The jib was set, and the grande voile, or foresail, 
together with the tapecu, or jigger, while the mainsail, 
called by the Canadians mizzin — for we were a three- 
masted schooner — was brailed up, not only to give us 
more room, but because the open boat was then under 
all the sail she could stagger to. The French are a won- 
derful people; strange and incomprehensible are the 
sailing vessels they have produced ; but in Canada, aided 
by the antiquated notions of the English, they surpass 
themselves and manage to combine in their pilot-boats 
all the defects of which either system is capable. "While 
the rest of the world has discovered that the more sails a 
small boat carries the slower she will go, they have care- 
fully cut up what should have been one sail into four: 



A TRIP TO THE LA VAL. 65 

and whereas a pilot-boat is mainly wanted in rough 
weather, and should be capable of living in any sea, 
they have built them open, and any heavy wave breaking 
aboard would swamp them in an instant. 

But of all wonderful productions of the human mind 
the jigger excels; a mast is stepped alongside the 
stern-post, with a little spritsail hoisted on it ; a sta- 
tionary boom, or out-rigged, is fastened in the stern and 
projects aft into the water ; in the end of this boom an 
augur hole is bored, through which is rove the sheet to 
the jigger, and the sail trimmed down or eased off. By 
this ingenious arrangement all possible disadvantages are 
combined without one conceivable advantage. How- 
ever, not to condemn unreasonably, there are conve- 
niences in this singular rig. The bowsprit can be taken 
out and used to shove off from rocks or a lee shore, and 
as these vessels are never known to go to windward, that 
is important ; the sprit of the jigger can be used to 
boom out the mainsail when going wing and wing ; any 
passenger, finding a sail incommodes him, can reach up 
and wrap it round the mast, out of his way ; and in fact, 
if he were to pull it down and put it in his pocket, no 
one would miss it ; and finally, a Kentuckian might find 
the mainmast useful, with a little whittling, as a tooth- 
pick. It is also rather perplexing that the Canadians 
should call the foresail the grande voile, which is the 
proper name for the mainsail, and then call the mainsail 
the mizzin, in pronouncing which they endeavor to cheat 
the last syllable of its vowel ; whereas, the jigger, if any, 
is entitled to be called the mizzen. Instead of having a 
cabin, like Christians, they have amidships, for it is a 



66 A TRIP TO THE LA VAL. 

keel boat, what they call a hoite ; and sure enough it ia 
a box, as long as the width of the boat, some seven feet, 
about two and a half feet deep at the lowest part, and 
rounding to the shape of the bottom, and three and a 
half feet wide. Into that they crawl, and two men and 
a boy have been known to sleep comfortably. 

Such was the vessel that was destined to bear uS sixty 
miles down the broad St. Lawrence, and was soon tear- 
ing along under the fierce wind that crested every wave 
with foam. Fortunately, our course lay along the wea- 
ther shore, for our open cockle-shell would not have lived 
a minute exposed to the full sweep of the blast and the 
sea it must have raised on the other side of the river, or 
even a few miles from shore. Once in a while, a little 
dash of spray would come hissing on board, or fling itself 
into our faces ; but as the wind was free, we could carry 
on sail as long as she could keep above the waves, or 
until she carried the masts out of her. Even that 
ungainly vessel, driving on in the seething waters, car- 
rying the canoes on her deck, and with her sails straining 
in the blast, must have been more than picturesque. 

On we tore, skirting the dreary, inhospitable coast past 
the village of Tadousac, past the Moulinbaud, the Esco- 
main, a river once famous for its salmon, but no longer 
so ; past the Patte de Lievre, a rock of the shape of the 
hare's foot, where many years ago the sea gave up its 
dead, and a cross now stands to mark the grave of the 
lost nameless one ; and the last puffs of the wearied 
blast urged us quietly into the outlet of Sault de Cochon. 
At the mouth of this river there is a steep fall, down 
which once a hog hastily descended much against her 



A TRIP TO THE LA VAL. 67 

will; in her death covering herself with immortality 
giving her name to the torrent that destroyed her. 

Hastily launching one of the canoes, and rigging up our 
rods, my companion and myself, eager for the fray, com- 
menced tempting the innocent inhabitants of the deep 
with delusive baits. Evidently Mr. Red Hackle was not 
one of their intimate acquaintances, and they took to 
him amazingly. The god of day was already declining 
behind the western hills, and casting long shadows over 
the now placid water, but the fish leaped at the fly in 
innumerable numbers, giving us such sport as we at least 
never enjoyed before. At almost every cast a trout, 
varying in size from a quarter of a pound to two pounds 
and a half, plunging out of water, seized the fly fear- 
lessly in his mouth, while often two or three were on the 
line at once. Large or small, they were most vigorous, 
making fierce struggles and mad rushes to escape, their 
silver sides glancing through the water, and their tails 
lashing it into a foam. No dull, heavy, logy fish were 
they, but active and lively, and excellent was the sport 
they gave ; so that when our men, having improvised a 
kitchen on the rocks, called to us that supper was ready, 
we were loath to leave our sport. It was then eight 
o'clock ; we had been fishing about three hours, and 
over one hundred and twenty fish, averaging about half 
a pound, were the net reward of our skill. 

The scene, as we took our supper upon the end of an 
old tumble-down dock, was peculiar. The light of the 
fires, making the surrounding darkness the deeper, served 
alone to illumine with lurid brightness the faces and fan- 
tastic dresses of our men, while the roar of the cataract 



68 A TRIP TO THE LA VAL. 

shut out all other sounds. The chaloupe lay below us, 
its outline just defined upon the dark water, while we, 
seated upon a log, drank our tea and feasted right roy- 
ally upon fresh trout and other comforts that civilization 
had provided us. 

Truly incomprehensible are the Habitans of Canada. 
One of the few inhabitants being without any eatable thing 
in the house, having scraped the flour barrel till he had 
scraped off splinters of wood, and, except for our arrival, 
without the prospect of a meal for the morrow, had 
soothed his sorrows by inviting his neighbors to a ball. 
Of course there was no supper ; but the music of one 
fiddle, and the merry spirits of the Canadian girls made 
up for the deficiency, and when we joined them, after 
our tea, they all seemed as happy as though stomachs 
never grew hungry or limbs tired. Being politely offered 
the belles, we joined the festivities, our potables adding 
to the merriment of the party, till, with the prospect 
of a hard day's work on the morrow, we thought best to 
retire to the dressing-room and camp upon the floor for 
the night. Although the bed was hard, and our rest 
somewhat disturbed by visions of beautiful creatures 
arranging their hair and dresses by the light of a tallow 
candle, before the looking-glass in our room, and at last 
donning their hats for a final departure, we slept toler- 
ably, and the early dawn saw us on our feet, preparing 
for our departure. 

While the men were carrying out our directions, in 
anticipation of a long absence from civilization, the 
attractions of the finny tribe were too seductive, and we, 
yielding to their enticements, again cast our lines in plea- 



a TRIP TO THE LA VAL. 09 

sant places, and again, in about three hours, captured 
over eighty of the speckled silver-sides. The largest 
weighed two pounds and a half, and was the best fish 
taken, thus far. 

The barrels were arranged, the salt was purchased and 
stowed, the canoes made fast, the sails set, and, blessed 
by a still more favorable southwest wind, we got under 
way for La Yal. Its mouth was only about one mile 
distant, but we intended to ascend it as far as possible 
with the chaloupe, on the rising tide, and were thankful 
for the favoring wind. At its outlet lies an island of the 
same name with the river, behind which stretches a 
broad, rocky, shallow bay. We escaped by grazing 
several rocks, and entered a sluggish, canal-like, dirty 
river, as unlike the La Yal of a few miles above as any- 
thing can be conceived, and ploughed our way through 
crowding shoals of sardines, that rose so thick as to 
tempt us to try to catch them with a scaj) net. But 
where the rocks began to be visible as the water became 
clearer, we drew the chaloupe to the shore, and anchor- 
ing her stem and stern, loaded our canoes for the ascent 
of the river. We took with us the essentials of our 
camp life, intending to send back for the superfluities 
after we had established a permanent camp ; the river 
being too low, our canoes would not carry a heavy load. 

Armed with iron-shod poles to shove up the rapids, 
and paddles for the deeper pools, our Canadians took 
their places and we commenced our ascent. My com- 
panion was an expert canoeman, but for myself it was 
my first real lesson in the unsteady little shells, and 
6eated upon the bottom I awaited every moment a 



70 a TRIP TO THE LA VAL. 

sudden bath. Here the water was comparatively smooth, 
and little was I prepared for the falls and rapids that 
were ere long to steady my nerves for anything, and prove 
what a canoe can do when it is well handled. 

While our head guide, with the musical taste that is 
inherent in the French nature, rang forth — 

" Aimez-moi Nicolas," 

the paddles were being plied vigorously, and we shot 
into the narrow cleft that forms the bed of the La Yal. 
Straight up from the water's edge sprung the hills on 
each side, their grey rocks scarcely half covered with 
stunted spruce, pine and hemlock, and rarely leaving 
margin enough for underwood to grow upon the bank. 
The water, now limpid as crystal, poured down in an 
ever increasing current, and here and there boiled 
over a hidden rock. On we forced our way, a bald 
eagle the only contestant for our sole occupancy of the 
river, past the grey cliffs, the sombre trees, through dark 
pools, up rapid currents, by banks of clay greyer than 
the granite hills themselves. On, on, with steady exer- 
tions, at every moment ascending toward the source of 
the wild stream. The water became shoaler, the cur- 
rents stronger, and the rapids more rocky as we ad- 
vanced. 

Poling up the rapids was strange indeed. Imagine a 
torrent pouring, hissing and boiling down over rocks, 
where the foam glistened and the spray danced into the 
air, sweeping through narrow channels and leaping up 
and curling over in crested waves ; imagine a light, fra- 



A TRIP TO THE LA VAL 71 

gile boat, that a man could lift with one hand, forced 
against such a current, between or even over the rocks, 
swayed about, swept hither and thither, and once in a 
while caught broadside on, and, unless quickly righted, 
carried to instant destruction. Imagine the excited 
efforts, the quick directions of the steersman, or forward 
boatman, whose care it is to head the canoe straight, to 
choose at a glance the deepest channel, and to keep her 
clear as possible from the rocks. " Arrete ! avance ! 
pousse I d droite ! a gauche /" with a thousand others, 
come streaming forth as she touches, swings round, or 
tries to take her own head. At times she stops entirely, 
and by main force alone is she pushed over ; the rock 
being distinctly felt as it bends the thin bark, that by 
its elasticity gives to the pressure and springs to its place 
the next instant. The men stand erect, exerting all their 
strength, and handle their poles like a Paddy his shille- 
lah, first on one side, then on the other, then in front 
and then behind, the iron taking a firm hold of the slip- 
pery rocks. Such was our ascent, and deeply interesting 
it proved to me, although at first it seemed inevitable 
that the foaming water most ingulf us all, and, destroy- 
ing our provisions, leave us, if we escaped at all, ship- 
wrecked mariners upon a desolate coast. 

I was glad, therefore, at every opportunity to quit the 
canoe, and clambering as fast as I could over the slip- 
pery rocks, post myself ahead upon the point of some 
batture or ledge of rocks, and cast the fly till the canoe 
came toiling painfully along. Great was my success, 
beautiful the dark pools, ever varying the limpid water. 
The treacherous banks of clay, so slippery that it was 



72 A TRIP TO THE LA VAL. 

scarce possible to stand on them ; the dark pines casting 
a gloomy shadow upon the water, the sombre depths 
where the current had worn away a cavern for the 
naiads of the watery realm, made together a picture 
never to be forgotten. While the innumerable trout 
were enough to gladden the heart of any true sportsman. 

The day was passed and yet our journey not half 
done; we halted for the night as "The shades of eve 
came slowly down," and Walton joined me with his rod 
while the tent was being pitched and the fire lighted. 
Glorious was our sport; many a brave fish rose and 
sunk, and rose to sink no more ; either in that region the 
parent trout had not learned the infant song that in 
civilized localities they are accustomed to teach their 
children, or else the mothers did not know the latter 
were out ; for certainly they were not aware of the con- 
cealment of the cruel hook under the seeming insect. 
They showed no fear and we no pity, till the call of 
"supper" found us with over a hundred fish, averaging 
a pound and a half. 

In conscious innocence and happiness we retired ; the 
fire was bright, the night was warm, the woods were 
still, the sand was soft, but oh ! the sand flies. They 
came down upon us more innumerable than the locusts 
in Egypt, and if Pharaoh had only been tormented with 
them, he would have given up in one night. I tossed 
and turned and rolled about, hid my head under the 
blanket, and covered it up with my handkerchief. All 
to no use ; they would still find some means of entrance, 
the little, invisible things ; and they bit till my face 
seemed on fire. Their bite does not itch like a mosqui- 



A TRIP TO THE LA VAL. 75 

to's, but burns, and I never again shall despise a thing 
because it is small. Compelled to surrender all hope of 
sleep, I gathered the dying embers of the fire, and add- 
ing fuel, drove away the pests, while, at the same time, 
with infinite relish, I scorched our men, who, to my pre- 
vious disgust, had been sleeping during my sufferings as 
though they were in paradise. 

By the earliest dawn I had waded into the river and 
made the discovery that fish, unlike the proverbial birds, 
will not take the fly too early. Just before the sunlight 
tinged the mountain-tops, they, thinking to provide their 
own breakfasts, provided me with mine, so that, when 
the time came to leave off, I had taken twenty fish 
weighing over forty pounds. 

Immediately after the meal was over, We continued 
our ascent as rapidly as possible, dreading another expe- 
rience such as we had endured the previous night, and 
hurried on to reach our regular camping-ground and 
pitch a proper tent. On the way, I only had time to 
catch fifteen, weighing thirty-seven pounds, the largest 
being of three pounds and a half, and late in the after- 
noon hailed with pleasure the information that at last 
we had reached the spot that was to be to us for some 
time our home. It was a beautiful location ; the stream, 
by a sudden bend, forming a low, long point of land, 
nearly level, which had been, by previous camping par- 
ties, entirely denuded of underbrush and partly of trees. 
In front, midway in the river, was a large flat rock, 
beyond which, extending to the further shore, and just 
fairly within casting distance, lay a deep, black pool. 
A dead tree leaned over this rock from our side of the 

4 



74 a TRIP TO THE LA VAL. 

river, forming a perilous swinging bridge by which one 
could reach it dry-shod. Directly across a cool spring 
brook entered the La Yal at a place where the shore was 
a mass of overhanging underbrush. A pathway had 
been cut through the woods by some previous salmon 
fishers to the pools above and below ; and with the poles, 
benches, boards and other insignificant but useful articles 
left by our predecessors, our camping-ground combined 
every requisite with many luxuries. At five o'clock 
the tent w T as pitched, onr necessary part of the arrange- 
ments, the head-work done, and "Walton and myself com- 
menced fishing. We stood side by side upon the rock 
already mentioned, and before dark had taken fifty-three 
trout, weighing one hundred and twenty pounds. They 
were most vigorous fish, and many a time did their con- 
tinued runs almost exhaust our lines. "We had fished at 
Sault de Cochon with three flies ; on ascending the river 
had diminished them to two, and now the fish themselves 
coolly reduced them to one. Almost invariably, if we 
struck two fish at a time, no matter what pains we took, 
one broke away with the hook. After a short time, we 
did not pretend to use more than one, and then had to 
take great pains in removing it from the mouth to avoid 
its being destroyed, so tough were the lips and strong the 
teeth of these noble fish. Indeed, it was soon effectually 
proved that any fly with the hackle wound from the 
shoulder to the bend was worthless, the first fish biting 
away the hackle, which should have been only wound 
close to the head. Heretofore the destruction of my fly 
had been a minor consideration, but now I found that I 
must look to myself, or, although provided with over 



A TRIP TO THE LA VAL. 75 

thirty dozen, there might be clanger of my falling short. 
As it was, the fish destroyed in the course of my trip at 
least ten dozen. 

A delicious night's rest was the reward of our efforts 
at arranging a proper camp, and in fact, henceforth 
there was no trouble from flies, mosquitoes, or any insect, 
except to a slight degree daring the day-time ; an annoy- 
ance that a segar would effectually dispel. From a quarter 
before seven to a quarter past eight next morning I alone 
took twelve fish averaging over two pounds, and during 
the day, while ascending the river for a short distance to 
investigate what now became to us a serious question, 
the depth of water, Walton and myself together caught 
twelve, and in the afternoon twenty-eight more. In the 
course of this day we established a rule to throw back 
all fish weighing under two pounds, a rule we adhered 
to till our last day in the river. The water proved to be 
very low, and although at night we occasionally heard 
the rush of a large fish up the rapids, the salmon had 
passed above and were probably on their spawning 
grounds, whither it now began to be very doubtful 
whether we could follow them. It was late in the sea- 
son, as we knew, for salmon, although we had come pre- 
pared for them, and wished to catch at least a few. 

We had picked up at Sault de Cochon, as a super- 
numerary, a boy of about eighteen, who was one of the 
most remarkable beings the sun ever shone upon. He 
would sit for hours with his mouth open and his hands 
before him, and, unless told, would hardly have sense to 
eat enough to keep himself from starvation. After dark, 
our men, with a hook and line and the entrails of a trout 



76 A TRIP TO THE LA VAL. 

for bait, caught some eels, and he, emulous of theii sue 
cess, took the line after they had finished, and concluded 
he would try his luck. Although he had been watching 
their proceedings for an hour with the deepest interest, 
he had no idea what they used for bait, and was forced 
to inquire. They, with peals of laughter, suggested 
alternately " a cup of tea, a bit of biscuit, a little ale, 
a lump of sugar," and such other anomalous baits. 
Although he at last succeeded in ascertaining from them 
what they used, it was not to be supposed that he would 
catch anything ; in fact, it is highly probable he fell 
asleep over his rod and slept till morning. 

The next day we prepared for a portage of five miles 
to the Lake la Val, a pond of some two miles in length 
by one in breadth, formed by the rivers spreading out 
and filling a valley in the hills. Walton donned a heavy 
basket, Joe, our chief canoeman, took the canoe, while 
Francois, the lazy boy, carried a bundle of bedding. 
We crossed the river, and striking directly into the 
woods, followed an Indian trail that had probably been 
there before this continent was discovered by Columbus. 
The mode of carrying the canoe was truly original ; it 
was reversed and mounted on Joe's shoulders, and his 
head being entirely concealed, he steadied it by holding 
to one of the cross pieces, and, at a distance, looked like 
some strange animal with a huge trunk, supported by 
two little legs. It was surprising how he managed it 
through the trees and among the underbrush, and even 
ascended places where we were compelled to give our 
legs the aid of our hands, not, however, without strenu- 
ous exertion, and the perspiration streamed from him 



A TRIP TO THE LA VAL. 77 

when, after accomplishing about a mile, he leaned it 
upon a fallen log and slipped from beneath. Then the 
warning my friend had so often given me never to -wet 
the bottom of the canoe, because it augmented its weight 
bo terribly, came forcibly to mind. Fortunately Francois 
waked up, and having volunteered to carry the canoe 
over the next stretch, and it being ascertained, to every 
one's astonishment, that he knew how, proved himself 
for the first time of any value, and shortened our jour- 
ney considerably. During the portage we saw our first 
game, a spruce grouse so tame that no efforts we made 
could induce him to fly. He escaped death, primarily 
because we had no gun, and secondarily because it was 
out of season. At last, after a trying journey for our 
men, we passed a deserted lumbermen's shanty, and 
found ourselves upon the sandy shore of the lovely Lake 
la Yal. 

This beautiful sheet of water, lying amid high sterile 
hills far from the abodes of man, has remained, and will 
continue for centuries, unvisited except by the native 
Indian or the adventurous sportsman. Romantic in its 
location and appearance, it is remarkable for the num- 
ber and apparently irreconcilable character of the fish 
that inhabit its waters. While the voracious northern 
pickerel and giant mascallonge inhabit the upper part, 
and the fierce, greedy and powerful salmon have appro- 
priated the outlet, shad or mullet and lake trout, both 
comparatively inoffensive, dwell in the centre, and 
doubtless prove an easy prey and grateful food to their 
natural enemies on cither hand. Along the upper mar- 
gin, weeds grow, and the bottom is in places soft and 



78 a TRIP TO THE LA VAL. 

muddy, while the residue of the shore and bottom is firm 
white sand. The lake looked, in its broad expanse with 
the sun dancing on its rippled surface, lovely to us 
whose eyes had for a time been confined to a narrow 
gorge or the blue sky above. 

Hastily launching the canoe, we descended the outlet, 
where the water poured over huge bowlders covered with 
a long, weedy grass, the seeds of which had been washed 
from the lake. Walton was standing in the bow of the 
canoe, and shouted with delight, and waved his paddle 
enthusiastically in air as salmon after salmon flashed up 
through the water, and shot by, rapid as light. The 
sight made our nerves tingle, but it was useless to try 
for them ; the water was too clear, and they were dark 
and long run from the sea. At one point he frantically 
shouted to stop, and hastily explained that he had seen 
five salmon and numerous large trout in one deep hole. 
In vain, however, did we cast our flies, they had been 
frightened, and probably rushed down the stream, for we 
could not stir a fin. Descending a short distance fur- 
ther, we halted for dinner, after which, taking advantage 
of a resting spell, I waded back to the same spot. 

The pool lay close beside a little island covered with 
alders, and by crawling cautiously I kept out of sight, 
and reaching the head of the island, cast carefully and 
lightly round it into the pool. The line went out straight 
the full length, the fly fell like a snow-flake on the 
water, there was an angry rush, a mighty splash, a quick 
taughtening of the line, and an enormous fish was 
fastened to my frail tackle. In his astonishment lie 
fortunately darted up stream, and by skillful manage- 



A TRIP TO THE LA VAL. 79 

ment was led round into the other channel, where, after 
many a struggle and desperate effort to escape, baffled 
only by prudence and care exerted through a long but 
exciting half hour, I landed him by walking into the 
water waist deep, and slipping the net under him. As 
for leading him to shore, my rod, already bent double 
would not bear the strain. He was a dark-backed, 
yellow-sided river fish, and weighed four pounds and a 
quarter. He was our champion prize, and remained so 
to the end. The water not having been disturbed, I 
made another cast, and was rewarded by another fish 
that weighed four pounds. A brace of beauties, fit to set 
before a king. The second one, however, so fought and 
flounced, and kicked and slapped about in the pool, in 
spite of all my persuasive efforts to induce him to leave 
it, that the rest grew suspicious, and refused the most 
seductive baits. My friend looked the least little bit 
envious when I rejoined him, and mentioned his having 
previously taken a sea trout at the Mingan that weighed 
nine pounds. I smiled, of course respectfully. We 
returned to the lake, having taken in all fifteen fish 
averaging three pounds, and leaving the canoe on the 
beach, wended our way through the w r oods back to our 
sylvan home, where Pierre received us with a redoubtable 
supper. Insatiable, however, I that evening took eight, 
and next morning three, from our preserve, as we called 
the pool in front of the tent. 

As we intended to return to the lake, and might per- 
haps spear a pickerel, Joe made an egog, which appears 
to be the Indian name for fish-spear, the Canadians 
having not only adopted the word, but coined from it a 



80 A TRIP TO THE LA VAL. 

French verb, egogger, to spear. Armed with it, and 
provided with make-shift tenting materials, we has- 
tened to the lake, and launching our canoe, tried its 
virtues upon the pickerel. The latter, however, were so 
scarce, that we rigged up the more effectual spinning 
tackle, and took a pickerel and a mascallonge of about 
twelve pounds each, and struck another of the latter 
very large, weighing, as well as could be guessed, from 
his passing close to the boat, about forty pounds. That 
night, provided with flambeaux, we went out for the 
purpose of again trying to spear pickerel ; but, passing 
by the outlet of the pond, were so attracted by the 
numerous salmon, we could get no further. 

It was a romantic sight; the canoe, lit up by the 
blazing flambeau, that was fastened, high above our heads, 
to a pole fixed in the bow, and by its glare made the 
surrounding darkness the more impenetrable ; the silence 
of the night was unbroken, except by the dip of the 
paddle; and calmness of the water unruffled, through 
which the bewildered salmon lazily floated, following us 
about, coming so close that we could touch them with 
our hands, and occasionally jumping frantically into the 
air, utterly out of their wits and at the mercy of any 
poacher. Walton was excited, myself enthusiastic, but 
Joe was frantic; " Egoggez done! egoggez done!" lie 
shouted, wildly pushing at the fish with his paddle, and 
almost ready to jump out of the boat. My friend held 
the spear in hand — he was a splendid spearsman, and 
could have filled the boat with salmon ; but it was ille- 
gal as well as dishonorable to catch them in that manner 
— he wavered but a moment, and then with a sigh lay 



A TRIP TO THE LA VAL. 81 

jown the spear and took up his paddle, the greatest 
example of self-command and honest sportsmanship I 
ever knew. General Washington, when he refused to be 
king, was no greater. My friend was not rewarded if he 
did not sleep happier for it that night in the old cabin on 
the shore of Lake la Yal ; and if the falling pipe of the 
rotting stove that nearly crushed his head had killed 
him, he would have died virtuous, respected and without 
reproach. 

Oh, that I had the pen of Julius Ceesar, Homer, 
Shakspeare, or even Byron, that I might write an ode 
to sapin, the balsam fir-tree ! Tree of the weary woods- 
man, tree of the luxurious sportsman, tree of all men 
whom the drowsy god catches in the woods and compels 
to his embraces ! A bed of thy leaves is softer than one 
of eider-down, and far more comfortable. A prince 
might sleep on thee and dream he was in paradise. 
Thou preservest us from colds, from rheumatism, and the 
many ills that flow from the evil humors of the cold 
ground. Thy leaves, growing in one direction from the 
stem, will lie flat, and may be piled to any depth— a foot 
of luxury, as in our permanent camp — and make a couch 
that combines the softness of the feather-bed with the 
firmness of the mattress, and an elasticity purely thy 
own. To thee, and to thy mate the hemlock, and thy 
associate the white birch, I now, far from thee, waft, in 
a cloud of tobacco-smoke, my love. Go on, increase and 
wax great ; may often the one support me on the land, 
the other on the water ! 

When the next morning's sun had once more brought 
round my birthday, the thirty-first that had ever dawned, 

4* 



82 A TRIP TO THE LA VAL. 

we commemorated the fact by undertaking to descend 
the La Yal from the outlet to our home ; a roundabout 
journey of some fifteen miles, in lieu of the portage of 
five. It was to be a final test of the depth of the water, 
as the course lay over bad rapids and falls, and we 
entered upon the journey with great uncertainty. Pack- 
ing our temporary bedding in a water-proof blanket, our 
party embarked and sped gaily along for the first mile 
or two, but soon found the bed of the stream one mass 
of huge rocks, over which the canoe had to be driven 
with sheer force, and which tore and strained the fragile 
bark till it leaked terribly. 

During this day our progress was necessarily slow 
and laborious, and to relieve ourselves we fished continu- 
ally. The trout rose beautifully — in fact, in one pool 
they were so thick, sweeping round in shoals, that we 
grew surfeited, and left it for a spot where they were 
less plenty. Still it required a long line and light fly to 
cull the largest — which were the ones we sought — and 
skill and patience to land them. We might have taken 
hundreds had the time permitted, or our canoe been in 
condition to carry them ; but every strain had increased 
the leak till we could no longer keep it down by bailing, 
and had to land from time to time to turn the water out. 
In fact, it was a wet time altogether ; there was a driz- 
zling rain, the canoe was three inches deep with water, 
we had both been wading part of the day, and had so 
arranged our water-proof blanket that it projected be- 
yond the temporary tent, and catching all the water that 
drained off, would not permit it to soak through, but 
collected a miniature Lake la Yal in the middle of our 



A TRIP TO THE LA VAL. $% 

bed. I being the heaviest, had the most of it ; but by 
the aid of a blazing tire, I slept warm and comfortable 
till the morning air struck me, when the time came to 
rise, and sent a shiver to my very bones, giving me at 
first horrible visions of consumption, night-sweats and 
early death. Our tally of fish taken during the day 
amounted to fifty-three, weighing nearly two hundred 
pounds, and I had captured the greatest weight as yet 
taken at one cast, landing two fish, one of which weighed 
two and the other three pounds and a half. A handsome 
present the river gods made me for my birthday ! 

The next day, after an hour had been spent in vainly 
trying to attract the salmon, our journey was continued 
to the camp, the river as we descended proving worse, 
the rocks higher, the rapids fiercer, the water lower, 
our canoe frailer, till it came almost to dragging the 
latter over the bed of a current instead of floating com- 
fortably along its surface. All hope of ascending to the 
head-waters was extinct, the rapids above the lake we 
knew must be worse than those below, and the latter 
were totally impassable for a loaded canoe. In our 
despair, we fished steadily at every breathing spell, and 
might have taken unlimited numbers, for they rose 
gloriously. 

While walking unconsciously along, separated from 
my companions, I was fairly startled at observing what 
at first glance seemed to be a female figure seated on the 
opposite side of the stream beneath the bank. The 
impression was only dissipated by a close inspection. 
The rains had scooped out of the bank a dark niche, the 
edges of which were ornamented with vines and moss 



84 A TRIP TO THE LA. VAL. 

and in it was seated a figure of clay, worn to an aston- 
ishing likeness of a woman with a gipsy bonnet on her 
head. She appeared to be seated, and her bonnet, its 
strings and her dress, were accurately imitated by the 
curling white birch bark. The color of her face seemed 
dark brunette, set off by the birch bonnet, that was 
brought out in strong relief by the heavy shadow of the 
background. Altogether, it was a startling apparition, 
and conjured np to my eyes the wondrons sights of the 
times of elfin power, when my spectre would have made 
a most perfect wood nymph. 

"Whether my elf gave me good luck or not, it is impos- 
sible to say, but we caught thirty-seven magnificent fish, 
and after a hard day's work, during which we had toiled 
at the canoe and waded most of the way, the camp was 
no unwelcome sight. It required Pierre's best culinary 
efforts to restore our spirits, and soothe our disappoint- 
ment at being unable to effect a further ascent, in which 
our worst forebodings were confirmed by Jermain, an 
additional guide who had followed us, and who reported 
from his Indian friends that the upper stream was impass- 
able, the water being a foot lower than was ever known 
before. With sad hearts, therefore, the council of war 
determined that advance was hopeless, and retreat ine- 
vitable; even our splendid sport could not console us. 

It had been drizzling all day, and the next morning 
we devoted to a general drying of wet articles — the 
camp looked like a grand clothes washing establishment, 
with lines stretched from tree to tree round a bis* fire, 
and hung with clothes. I took some seven trout for 
dinner, but otherwise the fish had a rest until the mor 



A TRIP TO THE LA VAL. 85 

row, which was to be our last on the river, when we cap- 
tured twenty-eight, a few of which, however, did not 
exceed a pound and a half in weight. 

The next day came, and good bye to the beautiful La 
Yal. Slowly and sorrowfully we struck our tent, sadly 
we collected together, and stowed the many little arti- 
cles that the occasion had hallowed to our hearts. With 
feelings of deep regret we embarked, and looking our 
last look at the camping-ground that had been our home, 
commenced a descent to our chaloupe. As there were 
three canoes, and only five canoemen, including my 
friend, I was gladly compelled to take the bow of one 
and act as steersman. Of course my experience was 
limited, for, with the exception of having once upset 
"Walton to his intense disgust, I had taken little active 
part in canoe management, and having for my stern-oar, 
Joe, whose only idea was to push ahead under all cir- 
cumstances, we performed manoeuvres that astonished 
more than they delighted our associates. Ours was the 
leaky canoe that had been patched up with gum and a 
piece of a shirt for the occasion, and being utterly reck- 
less of it, we shot down rapids and leaped over rocks 
like a runaway race-horse. Wonderful were our hair 
breadth escapes; the rapid water, Joe with his "Avarices 
toujours" gave me no time to see and less to avoid the 
half-hidden dangers, even if my skill had been equal to 
the task, and we darted along amid the foaming current, 
or plunged headlong down cataracts, at a rate and in a 
manner that would have surprised a locomotive off the 
track. We succeeded, however, in keeping straight with 
the current, and although once or twice our destruction 



S6 A TRIP TO THE LA VAL. 

seemed inevitable, we finally arrived safe, though in a 
leaky and dilapidated condition, at the place where we had 
anchored our chaloupe. The latter, left to herself, had 
been trying what she could do on the rocks, and had 
succeeded, with the aid of a falling tide, in upsetting 
twice, and so frightening the boy in charge of her that 
he had fled for refuge to a shanty, which providentially 
was near at hand. 

Joe had taken the opportunity during our last day's 
fishing, on hearing of the misfortunes of his boat, to 
remove her to the Sault de Cochon, so that we had to 
paddle about two miles in the open St. Lawrence. The 
river was over twenty miles broad, and, under the influence 
of a southwesterly wind, was so rough that our un- 
steady bark danced, tossed and rolled about uncommonly. 
I could no longer stand up, as I had been forced to do 
hitherto, and was brought to my knees at once, while 
even Joe found it safer to sit down on the thwart. No 
one who has not tried it can imagine what a canoe is in 
the slightest sea-way ; it appears to bob from under you, 
and rolls and dances so quickly as to render staying in 
it almost impossible, even if it should not carry out its 
evident design to turn bottom up. Once at Sault de 
Cochon and I again tried the fish, having taken, on the 
descent of the La Yal, twelve, and was rewarded as I 
deserved, by total failure. 

The wind had died out, the water lay a perfect mirror, 
and, crowding down into the narrow cock-pit, we slept 
till two o'clock in the morning, when a favoring tide 
helped us slowly along toward our destination. The 
night passed, and the next day, and we drifted by place 



A TRIP TO THE LA VAL. 87 

after place that we passed before with such rapidity, and 
sunset again found us only thirty-three miles on our way. 
We ran into a little bay at the mouth of the Escomain, 
where, having built a huge fire and eaten a hearty sup- 
per, we slept, on a bed of the softest pebble stones, 
soundly and sweetly till the first grey light of daybreak, 
when we continued our journey along a coast so poor 
that the best fed hogs are, as we were credibly informed, 
light and weak enough to be blown over by a strong 
wind, and mill-stones, to say nothing of the miller, 
starve for want of grain. 

Again the hills of the Saguenay rise to our view, 
Tadousac rests calmly in its nook, and the sun shines on 
the white houses of L'Anse a l'Eau as when we left. 
Our trip is done. The La Yal will live in our memory 
as long as we can cast a fly — aye, and when gout or age 
shall have laid us on the shelf. To you, my friend, the 
genial companion of my trip, I give my thanks ; may we 
meet again, and once more stand side by side upon some 
projecting rock, as fish after fish rises to our fly. May 
you long live to enjoy the sport at which you so excel, 
and may you leave children that can cast a fly as well. 
To the stately St. Lawrence, to the magnificent Sague- 
nay, to the beautiful La Yal, a long farewell. 



£8 THE SALMON. 



CHAPTEK Y. 



THE SALMON. 



Salmo Salar. — This celebrated fish is totally different 
in appearance from the trout, having decidedly brilliant 
scales, colored bluish black down to the lateral line, and 
beautiful and white as glistening silver below. It has 
on the gill-covers and upper part of the sides occasion- 
ally dark irregular spots. The tail is more forked, and 
proportionally more expanded than that of the trout, 
while the fish is of a more slim and elegant shape. 

The branchial rays are twelve, and the fin-rays are as 
follows : 

D. 13.0 ; P. 15 ; Y. 9 ; A. 9 . C. 19f . 

These splendid and valuable fish, whether regarded as 
an object of the sportsman's skill or the epicurean's 
taste, though once abundant in our State, are so no more. 
Hendrick Hudson, on ascending the river he discovered, 1 
was particularly struck with their immense numbers, 
and continually mentions the " great stores of salmon." 
The last unhappy fish that was seen in the Hudson had 
his adventurous career terminated by the net, near 
Troy, in the year 1810. The rivers flowing into Lake 
Ontario abounded with them even until a recent period, 
but the persistent efforts at their extinction have at last 
prevailed, and except a few stragglers they have ceased 



THE SALMON. 89 

from out our waters. The willful, stupid obstinacy in 
building dams without fish ways, in crowding the rivers 
with nets, and neglecting all measures for theb protec- 
tion, have annihilated the noblest of game fish. They 
are now only to be found in Maine, and to the north- 
ward of it. The rivers of Maine are no longer worth 
the angler's attention, and if he would have good sport 
he must proceed to the wilds of New Brunswick or 
Lower Canada. 

In the wild woods of those famed regions they 
abound, and there, amid the solitude of nature, in its pri 
meval grandeur, the writer has cast the fly over thou- 
sands, has lured hundreds from their hidden depths, and 
seen myriads moving about in their romantic pools, 01 
darting away when disturbed ; has waited, casting 
patiently, for their appearance ; has felt the vigor of 
their first rush ; has seen them leap, maddened, high out 
of water ; has experienced all the variations of hope, 
the exultation of success, and, alas ! the agony of fail- 
ure. He has known them to dart away resistlessly down 
some impassable rapid, and leap for joy as they broke 
his frail tackle, and he has seen them panting with the 
gaff in their sides and the dark blood streaming over their 
resplendent scales, as his quick-eyed assistant had secured 
them at the moment the hook was tearing out. Aye, he 
once had the good luck of having one that was thrown 
out of water by the blow, the hook tearing out at the 
same time, caught on the gaff ere he fell back into the 
watery grave of hope. 

The glorious sport ! Ye del vers after the ore of gold, 
hidden as it seems to be in boxes of silk or bales of cot- 



90 THE SALMON. 

ton, in bits of paper or leaves of ledgers ; ye wearv 
crawlers through the streets of mammon, who think the 
world is bounded by the four walls of your ambition ; 
ye who have been brought up to work, as though work 
were the aim of life instead of the means of its improve- 
ment ; ye who have laid up a few hundred for some pet 
dissipation, a visit to Saratoga or Newport, or a light 
with the tiger — that man-eater — and ye who must watch 
every day over your accumulated millions, lest a penny 
slip into a cranny and be lost, go to the woods, where 
you will be surrounded by the sombre trees, where the 
rocks will be your companions and the wind whisper 
and the stream prattle to you. There you will learn 
how little it takes to render man comfortable and happy, 
how but for his reckless passions and extravagant desires 
all might be satisfied and plenty crown the human race. 
There, where nature speaks to you in her beauty, in her 
grandeur, and occasionally in her stupendous power ; 
where the wonders of the universe by day and night are 
ever present, like old friends ; where there is naught but 
the thin air between the Maker and his beings, you may 
learn what will be more valuable some day than any 
treasure of gold or silver. Breathe the pure air, shake 
off every ill that flesh is heir to ; acid to your life, if you 
love it so well, a week for each day, and that a day of 
never wearying enjoyment. Take rod and gun, aspire 
to cast the line far and straight and light, feel the strug- 
gle of patience, perseverance, skill, resolution, with brute 
strength and cunning ; know the pleasurable anxiety of 
the chase, the alternate hope and fear, and the final 
glory of success. Learn the woodsman's art, the " gentle 



THE SALMON. £| 

«raft cf venerie," and wonder at the resources of the 
wilderness, and on jour return thank me not, if you can. 
But that you may do it well, read the following prosy 
instructions carefully, for if they be not entertaining 
they be useful. 

The rod for salmon fishing should be from sixteen to 
twenty feet long ; one of sixteen, or even fifteen, if well 
made and elastic, will answer. It must be strong and 
stiff, but not too heavy, and the further it will cast the 
greater will be the success. Salmon are more wary than 
trout ; if they see a horrible, ill-shapen being, like man, 
lashing at them with a long whip, they lie close to the 
bottom, and it is only by keeping well out of sight, and 
never disturbing or approaching the pool, that they can 
be tempted. A short rod, though it may be capable of 
casting the requisite distance, will not give sufficient 
command nor enable the angler to lift the fly with 
facility. 

The fly must be cast straight, light, and as far as pos- 
sible ; it must be put exactly upon the right ripple, and 
must fall like a snow-flake ; it should, if the water 
is still, be allowed to sink a few inches and then drawn 
up to and along the surface a foot or so, again allowed to 
sink, and so on till it is raised for another cast. It is not 
moved as rapidly, nor with precisely the same tremulous 
motion as in trout fishing. Often a long time passes 
before a fish, no matter how plenty they may be, will 
rise ; and when he does come, it is as often to play with 
and slap at the fly as to take it. Nothing is more pro- 
vokingly exciting than to have a magnificent fish rush 
again and again at your fly, leap over and around it, 



92 THE SALMON 

break near it or strike at it with his tail, without, hoiv 
ever, showing the slightest desire to take it in his mouth. 

A fish hooked foul, though he gives a great deal of 
trouble, and often breaks the tackle, does not afford half 
the legitimate sport of one that has the hook in the 
mouth. 

When fish are playing thus, and it is fully determined 
that they will not take the allurement presented them, 
no matter how attractive, it becomes necessary to substi- 
tute another, and continue so doing till their dainty pal- 
ates are satisfied. 

"When they finally take hold, have a care for their first 
rush ; the pain, if pain they feel, or astonishment, drives 
them wild, and they dash and fling themselves about, 
leap out of water, and carry on generally in a manner to 
surprise weak nerves. Finding their efforts to escape 
vain, they will dart down the nearest rapids, and here 
they must be followed if the water is too shallow for the 
canoe, by the angler, with the agility of the antelope. 
He must have feet, hands, and eyes for everything. The 
fish must be guided through the safest current, the line 
kept clear of rocks, while the angler must pursue his 
course through pools and over ledges and bowlders, slip- 
pery with the water, and requiring the sureness of foot 
of the chamois. On, on he must go, regardless of falls 
or bruises, his reel making sweet music to the uncoiling 
line, keeping within sight of his prey till the latter 
reaches the next pool or resting-place. After an hour's 
struggle in this, he may take down another rapid in the 
same vigorous style. In these descents the angler will 
find his gaff, if shod with iron, a great convenience in 



THE SALMON. 93 

steadying his steps, and heavy shoes with iron nails 
will in a measure prevent his slipping and will obviate 
stone bruises, although they are apt to break the 
delicate knees of the canoe, and should be removed 
before getting into one, and moccasins or slippers sub- 
stituted. There is a well authenticated story of one fish 
that was struck at six o'clock in the evening, followed 
down through three rapids, and finally lost at half-past 
ten o'clock that evening. 

Salmon will sulk, remaining motionless at the bottom 
for a long time after they are wearied with an unsuc- 
cessful struggle, and must be aroused with pebbles, bear- 
ing on the line, or in some other way. Many of the 
pools in the Canadian waters have been worn out of clay 
banks, and their sides under water are often perpendicu- 
lar or overhanging. When the fish sulks in one of these, 
the line cuts into the edge of this bank, and is of course 
broken to pieces by the first rush. 

Gentleness will do much with fish, as with other rea- 
sonable beings, and a friend of mine saved a number in 
a pool above an impassable rapid, where other anglers 
had pronounced fishing impracticable, by striking and 
handling the fish with extreme delicacy till they were 
led to the head of the pool away from the dangerous 
neighborhood. 

There is no superlative salmon line made ; the best, 
probably, plaited silk, tapered and covered with a prepa- 
ration to exclude the water ; but that in general use is 
of hair and silk plaited or twisted — a combination that, 
as we elsewhere remark, is by no means advantageous ; 
a plain hair line is preferred by careful anglers, and sim- 



94 THE SALMON. 

pie silk will answer. The leader should be of single gut, 
if round and strong, and may be colored in tea. Double 
gut will break the rod but not save the fish. The flies, 
contrary to the received opinion in Europe, should be 
dark, especially clarets and browns, above all the impal- 
pable "fiery brown," and of rather a small size, with a 
few larger for rough water. The reel should be large 
enough to carry two hundred yards of line, although 
with activity and a hundred an angler may make out. 

As for the number of fish, even in the best streams, 
those who read Lanmann must receive his statements 
with, to use a moderate term, some allowance. Ten or 
twelve fish in the course of a day is excellent luck, and 
will keep the angler sufficiently occupied and excited, 
but the average good fishing through the season is not 
half that number, and there are many blank days. The 
upper shore of the St. Lawrence furnishes the largest 
fish, but New Brunswick the most abundant. The rivers 
in the former are mostly leased to individuals by the 
government, and of course closed to the public except 
by the consent of the lessees. That famous association 
called the Hudson's Bay Company, a kingdom within a 
kingdom, until a few years ago, were sole proprietors of 
fishing rights, but having taken pains worthy of our 
emulation to destroy the fish, the government curtailed 
their privileges, and passed stringent laws and regula- 
tions, which are set out in the appendix, for the preserva- 
tion of the fish. 

The rivers of New Brunswick are still free.* The 
fly-fishing in Canada lasts till the first day of Sep- 
tember, and in New Brunswick till the fifteenth ; but 

* This is changed. There is no free salmon fishing in the Provinces. 



THE SALMON. 95 

the net fishing terminates earlier, and in Canada all 
spearing or fishing by torchlight is stringently forbidden. 
These laws are, strange as it may seem to ns, enforced 
with commendable energy in Canada, though in New 
Brunswick our mode of letting the people override the 
laws prevails. 

The best river in New Brunswick beyond all com- 
parison, is the Nipisiquit, emptying in the Bay of Cha- 
leurs, and near it are several almost as prolific* In 
Lower Canada the Mingan, the Moisie, the Busamite 
stand preeminent, but have many rivals. Directions foi 
reaching them have been given under the head cf sea 
trout fishing, but instead of taking a sail-boat, as there 
suggested, from any port on the river St. Lawrence, the 
same might be clone either from Bathurst or Prince 
Edward's Island, both of which are nearer the lower 
streams. 

There are many excellent rivers on the coast of Labra- 
dor as far as the Straits of Belie Isle, or even farther, and 
they would be well worth a visit, either in one of our 
clipper yachts or in a fast schooner. Many are entirely 
beyond the realms of civilization, and a pleasant party 
night have a glorious time and abundant sport. 

It would be necessary to take canoemen and canoes, 
or what is strongly recommended, small, light fiat-boatf. 
that can be rowed or poled by one man, and which can 
be purchased for five dollars apiece at most of the gulf 
seaports. 

Arm yourself, then, with two good salmon rods ; they 
may be so made us to constitute a trout rod as well, not 
by any means one of those detestable nondescripts called 

* The best river now is the Restigouche. 



96 THE SALMON. 

a general rod, but two rods distinct with joints fitting to 
each other. Take with you two good lines, plenty 01 
flies, extra gut and hooks, leaders and feathers, and a 
strong hook gaff, but not that dangerous, unwieldy 
instrument called a spring gaff. Thus equipped, go forth 
conquering and to conquer, and may good luck attend 
you. Seek any of the rivers we shall name, ascend 
them in your fragile canoe, station yourself early in the 
morning or at the approach of evening, choose your best 
fly, keep well out of view, cast far and light, and may 
you many and many a time be rewarded with the fierce 
rush of the mighty salmon, his struggle and final con- 
quest, and may your sleep be sound and your heart at 
rest amid nature's primeval hills. May the black flies 
and mosquitoes spare you. may the sand-fly not find you 
out, may the heat be tempered to you by day and the 
cold by night, may you not lose your footing too often, 
nor fall too hard, and may your fish be the largest, 
strongest and bravest that ever were taken. May you 
receive that mercy which you show, never drawing one 
drop of useless blood, nor causing one unnecessary pang. 
The aid of all good men and true is needed both by 
precept and example, to save the tenants of the water 
from final extermination. By putting restraint upon 
ourselves, never being guilty of wanton slaughter, by 
steadily urging measures for the preservation of the 
game, and by invariably obeying and compelling others 
to obey such laws as should be passed, we may be able to 
leave to our children a heritage of pleasure that bountiful 
nature has abundantly provided for ourselves. No fish 
are more defenceless and more readily destroyed than 



THE SALMON. ' 97 

trout and salmon ; there are certain prerequisites to the 
continuance of the species that must be complied with. 
The fish must ascend to the fresh water to spawn, and if 
prevented by an improperly constructed dam, will quit 
the locality never to return. 

It should be known that, contrary to the usually 
received opinion, salmon cannot surmount a fall of much 
over ten feet ; this, probably, is the full extent of their 
powers. And in effecting this, much depends upon the 
depth of water at its foot ; the deeper it is the higher 
they can leap. They do not take their tails in their 
mouths, according to the ancient theory, to enable them 
to spring higher, but rush with their utmost velocity 
from the bottom, and are carried by their momentum a 
considerable distance out of water. Such a leap or a 
struggle against strong rapids weakens them, and they 
must soon rest to recover strength for another ascent. 
They thus congregate below each fall, and often make 
many efforts before they overcome it. They usually 
move at night or early in the morning. A dam of fif- 
teen or twenty feet will effectually exclude them from 
any stream, but may be rendered innocuous at small 
expense by placing below the wasteway boxes of heavy 
wood, with a fall of not over iive feet from one to the 
other. A salmon leaps from the river to the first, from 
that to the next, and so on till he has overcome the 
barrier. A broad sluiceway leading at a moderate 
*ngle to the pool below, will probably answer as well.* 

The fish, as they enter the rivers, may be deterred 
_rom entering, or all captured in nets spread entirely 
across the mouth, and when those that do pass have 

* See Post as to modern fishways. 



98 THE SALftl(A>. 

reached the spawning beds, they are peculiarly exposed 
to the cruel spear. At night, by this instrument, with 
the aid of flambeaux, hundreds may be killed and many 
more wounded and left to perish miserably. If they are 
to continue in reasonable numbers, nets must not be set 
close together, the spawning beds must be undisturbed, 
and the murderous spear utterly prohibited. "With 
these precautions and a regulation concerning the sized 
mesh that is used, this valuable source of pleasure, health 
and profit may not only be retained but indefinitely 
augmented; without such care the day is not far off 
when " the places that knew them will know them no 
more," when their bright sides will no longer gleam 
beneath the waves or glisten as they gambol in the sun- 
light, when the nets will cease to yield a return, when 
the fishermen, longing regretfully for their most valuable 
prize, will find their occupation gone, and honest and 
dishonest, fair fisherman and sneaking poacher, alike be 
overwhelmed in one common ruin. Surely we have too 
much good sense, too much public spirit, too much 
energy and determination to submit to such a calamity ; 
let us unite, then, in repressing unseasonable and unlaw- 
ful fishing, in preserving and protecting the fish, and in 
restoring rivers that have been exhausted. 

In the salt water, salmon never take the fly, and rarely 
bait of any kind, although they feed on sand eels and 
small fish in addition to shell-fish ; but as they advance 
into brackish or fresh water, they either miss their natu- 
ral food and become hungry, or get accustomed (o feed- 
ing on grasshoppers and insects, and are deceived hy the 
artificial fly, and will at times take the bait. 



THE SALMON. 99 

When they leave the salt water, the sea-lice that have 
fastened to them fall off, frequently to be replaced by 
fresh-water parasites, and this is sometimes given as the 
reason for their leaving the sea so early in the year, 
although they do not spawn till the Fall. "While spawn- 
ing they are unfit to eat, and after the operation are 
utterly exhausted. In this condition, when returning to 
the sea, they are termed kelts, the male being distin- 
guished as a kipper and the female as a baggit. As the 
spawning season approaches, a curious cartilaginous 
hook grows from the lower jaw, which is supposed to be 
a provision of nature to prevent an unfortunate termina- 
tion to the many desperate contests between the males 
at that period. 

The habits of salmon are by no means determined ; 
in fact, little is known positively about them. It has 
been even suggested that grilse are a distinct species, 
although it is hardly doubted with us but they are young 
salmon. Their times of visiting the fresh water are 
subject to peculiar individual exceptions; in fact, it may 
be said there are two opinions among fishermen, and 
persons who have watched salmon for twenty and thirty 
years assert that some are ascending while others are 
descending. Izaak Walton says that salmon spawn in 
August, which is directly contrary to the views of other 
English writers, and certainly not in accordance with the 
practice of our fish. Others again say they return to 
the salt water in September, and reascend the rivers 
later in the Fall. The young in all stages have been 
disputed over, and called by divers names, such as pinks, 
smolts, parr, brandling, samlet, peal, grilse, until one 



100 THE SALMON. 

hardly knows what sort of fish he really has captured. 
Every writer has his theory, and the following is mine ; 
it may be true or not, but the statements of fact are. 

Salmon are never found in our rivers except in three 
stages : First, a little fish much like a trout, but with a 
larger eje and richer colors ; they have no blue spots, but 
have darker bands on their sides ; they weigh from half 
an ounce to half a pound. Second, the grilse, which is 
precisely like a salmon, except that it weighs from two 
and a half to six pounds. Third, the salmon, which 
weighs from eight to eighty pounds. Salmon first appear 
in the fresh water about the 10th of June, and grilse a 
month later. The main run of the former is from June 
15th to August 1 5th in New Brunswick, and from June 
10th to July 20th in Canada. The explanation of this 
difference is simple : the Canadian fish are much the 
largest, averaging double the size of their more southern 
brethren, and as the waters fall during the hot months 
of Summer, they must ascend earlier than smaller fish, 
and before the spring freshets have entirely subsided, or 
they would never reach the high waters at all. Strag- 
gling fish, however, are running up at all seasons, early 
and late, and a few probably remain in the fresh water 
the entire year, or descend only when they are sickened 
by a lengthened residence in an unchanged element. 
Salmon do not spawn in Summer, but in Winter, com- 
mencing not earlier, and often later, than October ; the 
fish that ascend last probably spawn last. Then they 
return to the sea ; but not at once, some remaining under 
the ice through the "Winter, others going immediately. 
My theory, therefore, is that the young fish , whether you 



THE SALMON. 101 

call them fry, or pinks, or smolts, or peal, go to the sea 
usually a year after their birth, but with no invariable 
regularity, and will then average six ounces in weight, 
many undoubtedly waiting till the Fall, or eighteen 
months after birth; that they return the succeeding 
July grilse;* that the grilse spawn the following Novem- 
ber, and after visiting the sea, reappear next Spring as 
salmon. The young fish are taken with the fly through 
the Summer in all the salmon rivers, and require a second 
glance to distinguish them from young trout, although 
they are very different, one decisive peculiarity being 
that their backs are arched or hogged, and another, as I 
have mentioned, that their eyes are large. The fry of 
trout — and recollect grown trout are not banded — have 
light sides, and are found usually in more quiet water. 
It would be well if sportsmen should call the fish in 
question respectively salmon fry, grilse, and salmon, and 
eschew all other fanciful names, as leading only to con- 
fusion. 

Salmon are never taken in fresh water with any food 
in their stomachs ; they are reported not to eat their 
young, and do not apparently feed on flies. The fry 
feed almost entirely on flies, and I have seen them pick 
off one after another as skillfully as a trout ; but I have 
never distinctly seen a salmon take a natural fly. When 
they spring out of water, it is in play, and at such times, 
contrary to the rule with trout, casting over them will 
be in vain, they will not rise. Moreover, our flies do not 
in the least resemble the natural flies of the rivers, which 
are of a dull green, and the salmon rivers afford very 
few flies at best. Observe me, I do not refer to mosqui- 

* Probably at least a year later Iban this. 



102 THE SALMON. 

toes or black gnats, at neither of which would gentle- 
manly fish deign to look. My theory, therefore, is, that 
salmon do not feed during the spawning season, but are 
supported by the animalculse in the water, and have poor 
commons at that, as their miserable condition soon testi- 
fies. Many varieties of fish live without apparent food, 
often with the additional disadvantage of infrequent 
change of water, as goldfish in a globe. 

When salmon first arrive in the harbors, they coast 
along the shore, and are then taken in nets, which are 
required by law to have a mesh too large to capture 
grilse ; later, they leave the warm shallows, and follow 
the cooler channel beyond the nets, which are only per- 
mitted to extend a certain distance. The tide-water 
fishing is therefore practically over by the 1st of August. 
Net fishing above the salt water is forbidden, or at least 
subject to the same restrictions, which, if they were 
enforced, would almost put an end to it ; but, discredit- 
able as it may seem, and short-sighted as such conduct 
unquestionably is, this law is totally disregarded in many 
rivers, where of course the fish are rapidly diminishing. 
They spawn over gravelly flats and pools, covering up 
the ova after impregnation, and then descend slowly, 
greatly emaciated, ugly and woe-begone, to the sea. At 
such times, although they will still take the fly, they are 
unfit to eat, and while they notwithstanding frequently 
fall a victim to the cruel spear of the murderous savage, 
no true angler nor honest man will harm them. 

Casting the fly gracefully and effectively is a peculiar 
art, hard to acquire, and picturesque to witness ; it if. 
altogether different from slashing the water, and almost 



THE SALMON. 103 

4S difficult of mastery as the corresponding science 
of trout fishing. The rod, being long and compara- 
tively heavy, must be held in both hands, which are 
changed occasionally so as to alternate that at the but, 
and teach the angler to cast over either shoulder. The 
line is lengthened to the proper distance, is raised with 
a springing jerk, swung out straight behind, and then 
again cast forward with the same springy motion. The 
work has to be done with the tip, which, except in cast- 
ing against the wind, must be kept as elevated as possi- 
ble. The stiffer the rod the more command the angler 
has over his line in avoiding the rocks and making the 
best of awkward places ; but this is counterbalanced by 
the disadvantages of excessive weight and a stiffness in 
striking that frequently breaks the casting line. A rod 
will cast four times its length beyond the tip ; one of 
sixteen feet, therefore, will cast sixty-four feet of line, 
ordinarily abundant ; and although one of twenty feet 
will cover sixteen more feet, unless it is made of cedar it 
is uncomfortably heavy. A cedar rod would be perfec- 
tion, but it is not to be trusted in the hands of a 
bungler. 

"When there is any current, and it is rare to take 
salmon elsewhere, the fly is cast across the stream and 
allowed to swing over the fish, which invariably lie with 
their heads up-stream. When a salmon intends to rise, 
he generally separates himself from his companions and 
waits till the fly approaches to the precise distance that 
pleases him. Then 

" Strike for your altars and your homes," 



104 THE SALMON. 

not too hard, but as quick as the lightning from tne 
sky, and this although contrary to the English books, on 
the ground that a salmon, if he rises once and fails to 
tonch the fly, will always come again. If, however, he 
has tasted the unappetizing morsel, and has not been 
hooked, for he is quick to spit it out, you will see him no 
more. If you fail to hook a fish on the first rise, it is 
well if you can keep your impatience under control, to 
rest him by casting elsewhere a few times, and if you 
fail to strike him on the third rise, change your fly. 
Salmon are extremely particular and dainty in their 
tastes, and it is never advisable to fish too long with one 
fly unless they take it well. 

The great rules are — keep out of sight, change your 
flies and rest the pools. The best time of a clear day is 
early and late, and in the midday heat not a boat nor a 
line should disturb the water ; in fact, a pool that a 
canoe has crossed is ruined for the day, and when there 
is no rising, there is little good in casting. A pool that 
is not disturbed at night would be found much better, as 
a consequence, in the morning. 

But after your fish is hooked, after he is played and 
almost played out, after you have exhausted him, and 
brought him skillfully and carefully to shore, he is not 
yet in the pot ; nor will he be unless you have an assis- 
tant expert with the gafT. There are all sorts of direc- 
tions about this important operation, some authors saying 
a fish must be gaifed in the shoulder, others preferring 
the tail, some the belly, and some the back, but, in fact, 
one place is as good another ; the main points are not to 
miss nor graze him, and not to jerk so hard as to throw 



THE SALMON. 105 

him off tJie gaff. To prevent this, where you anticipate 
finding only awkward aids, it is well to carry a gaff with 
a small barb, like an ordinary hook. I have had the 
indescribable pleasure of seeing my fish flung across 
the boat, and dropped in the water on the other side. 
The moment the fish is struck, the handle should be held 
perpendicular, so that he cannot flounce off. 

The best size for this implement is a length of nine 
inches from the end of the shank to the middle of the 
bend, from the latter four inches in a straight line to the 
point, which should be delicate and sharp, and at least 
two inches and three-eighths from the inner edge of the 
shank opposite ; the bend should swell out so as to be 
three inches across at its widest, and the end of the 
shank must be bent back and sharpened ; the steel tapers 
gradually from the point to a thickness of one quarter 
of an inch. Being nothing more than a large hook, it 
is easily carried, and when wanted for use, fastened to 
any suitable stick by driving in the projection on the 
shank, and winding the whole with stout cord. For very 
large salmon, a stronger and larger gaff would be desir- 
able, and for grilse a smaller one. 

When fish run, and throw themselves out of water, 
some writers direct you to taughten your line ; but I say, 
heed them not. Your line is well out and sunk to some 
distance, the very jump of the fish will consequently 
bring a great strain on the hook, without your aid, and 
many a fish is lost by such usage. On the contrary, if 
you give to him as he leaps, you diminish the tension, 
and then the quicker you take up the line after he has 
fallen back, the better. If, on the contrary, when he 

5* 



[06 THE SALMON. 

leaps he is near by you, and your line straight and out 
of water, he will try and strike it with his tail to break 
it, in which he may also be foiled by giving to him. 
My experience is to this eifect, and you will soon find 
out, if the fish are large and strong, how hard it is to do 
otherwise. 

It has been said that four times the length of the rod 
beyond the tip is the utmost length of line that can be 
handled with dexterity ; it is not meant that more can- 
not be cast, for I have often cast five times the length, 
but with an effort that soon becomes wearisome, and, if 
across a rapid current, without the requisite command. 
It is best to fish down stream, if possible, as otherwise 
your line sinks, and even in fishing across there will be 
considerable slack line. This is a second reason for 
rapid striking. There is another mode of managing a 
line, which is sometimes called casting, and by which a 
distance of eighty yards can be covered. The angler has 
a rod as thick at the tip as one's little finger, and a hair 
line as thick as the tip. Of course no reel can be used, 
as such a line would not run through the rings, or be 
contained on the barrel. The line tapers regularly to the 
fly. It is usually used in rapid water, and to cast, the 
fisherman waives his rod from side to side, lifting as 
much of it as possible clear of the water, and then 
throws out strongly with an underhand motion. The 
line rolls, as it were, raising itself from the water, as the 
impetus advances, till the fly is taken up and jerked over, 
so to speak, at an incredible distance. When a fish is 
struck he is drawn in by hand. I have not tried this 
proceeding sufficiently to speak positively, but think that 



THE SALMON. 107 

the heavy waxed lines now in general use would answer 
to a comparative degree. It is a difficult though not 
refined mode of fishing, and is the only way of casting 
eighty yards. 

The following is a list of the principal salmon and 
trout rivers of Canada and New Brunswick, with the 
distances of the former from Quebec, and such informa- 
tion as could be obtained concerning their character and 
condition. Those marked in italics have been leased 
to private individuals, but the leasing changes year by 
year. 

The Jacques Cartier is the only river near Quebec 
which, at the present time, affords any salmon. 

From Quebec to Murray Bay is . 78 miles. 

Here there is a river that furnishes a few salmon and 
many fine trout. 

From Murray Bay to the Saguenay is 44 — 120 
There is excellent sea trout fishing in the Saguenay 
and its tributary, the St. Marguerite, is a superior salmon 
river. 

River Escoumain 23 

Between it and the Saguenay are the two Bergeronnes. 
and both furnish a few salmon and many trout. 

Portneuf 26 

Plenty of trout and some salmon. 

Sault de Cochon 9 

Impassable for salmon, but affording excellent trout 
fishing at its mouth. 

LaVal .2 

Snperioi salmon and trout river. 



108 THE SALMON. 

Bersamis miles 24 — 84 

Affording in its tributaries many fine salmon ; between 
it and the La Yal are the Colombia, Plover and Blanche, 
all poor salmon streams. 

Outardes 11 

Manicouagan 16 

Mistassini 12 

Betscie 3 

Of these rivers I can obtain no satisfactory informa- 
tion. 

Godbout 15— 57- -261 

A celebrated salmon river, one of the best in the 
province. 

Trinity 15 

Good salmon and trout fishing. 

Little Trinity 10 

Calumet 3 

Pentecost 14 

Not a salmon river. 

St. Margaret 36 

One of the best salmon and trout rivers. 

Moisie 24—103—364 

Fine large salmon are taken in this river, and it is 
widely celebrated. 

Trout 7 

Manitou 35 

Good trout fishing ; the salmon are obstructed by 
falls. 

Sheldrake 16 

Magpie 22 

Furnishes a few salmon. 



THE SALMON. 



109 



St. John 5 

An admirable salmon stream. 

Mingan 16—101—465 

Probably the best river in the province for salmon, 
and excellent for tront. 

Pomaine ....... 9 

An excellent stream for both salmon and tront. 

Wascheeshoo 53 

Pashasheboo 18 

A few salmon. 

Nabesippi 7 

Agwanus 5 

A fair supply of salmon. 

ISTatashquan 
Salmon fine and abundant. 

Kegashka 
Salmon impeded by falls. 

Musquarro 
Affords good salmon fishing. 

"Washeecootai . 

Olomanosheebo 

Coacoacho 
Contains some salmon. 

Etamamu 
Fine salmon fishery. 



14—106—571 



23 



ISTetagamu 
A fine trout stream. 

Mecattina 
Good salmon fishing. 

Ha Ha . 

St. Augustine . 



15 

12 
11 

18 

21 



16 



HO THE SALMON 

Affords many salmon. 

Esquimaux . . . 14—149—720 

An excellent salmon river, somewhat run down. 

In New Brunswick there are salmon in the St. John 
and its tributaries, but the best of the latter, the Nash 
waak, has been closed with an impassable dam. From 
St. John it is easy to take the cars to Shediac, and cross 
to Prince Edward's Island, where there is magnificent 
trout fishing, especially near Charlotte, and tolerable 
accommodation ; or one can take the Quebec steamer to 
Bathurst and fish the Nipisiquit, which is admitted to be 
the best river in tjie province, or the Pestigouche and its 
tributaries, an excellent stream, but much injured by 
spearing ; or the Cascapediacs, which furnish some sal- 
mon and innumerable grilse. The Miramichi, between 
Shediac and Bathurst, is a fine large stream. 

The streams in Canada emptying into the St. Law- 
rence from the south shore, are hardly worth mentioning 
as salmon rivers, having been ruined by mill-dams, with 
the exception of those that empty into Gaspe basin, but 
they all afford superior trout fishing. I would here 
remark, that where the name trout is mentioned in con- 
nection with the British Provinces, the Salmo Trutta 
Marina, or sea trout, is always intended ; and the sal- 
mon fishing spoken of is fly fishing. The rivers that 
empty into Gaspe basin, such as the Dartmouth, York 
and St. John, are leased, as also the Bonaventure, that 
flows into the Bay of Chaleurs. 

As explicit directions for travelling through the 
benighted regions called the British Provinces, the fol- 



THE SALMON. HI 

lowing are given from a somewhat unwillingly extended 
experience. 

Take the night train or any route that will bring you 
to Boston before half past seven a.m., for at that hour 
the boat leaves for St. John, not St. Johns, which is in 
Newfoundland. If you are too late, you may still, by 
means of the cars, intercept the same vessel at Port- 
land. This boat does not leave daily, but generally 
advertises in the New York and always in the Boston 
papers. It touches at Portland, w T here you may take a 
steamboat on its arrival to Calais, and proceed thence 
by railroad to the Scoodic Kiver, where there is fine 
white, not sea, trout fishing, or stop at St. Andrews, 
whence there is a railroad in progress to Woodstock, on 
the St. John River. The Boston boat reaches St. John 
in about thirty- two hours, or at three o'clock ; the fare 
is six dollars ; the meals extra, and, consequently, extra 
good. 

The Waverley House, in St. John, kept by J. Scam- 
mell, affords the best, though poor, accommodation, at a 
reasonable price. A train leaves on the arrival of the 
boat for Shediac, and makes the one hundred and ten 
miles in six hours, at a fare of three dollars. From She- 
diac a steamboat that connects with the train carries you 
to Chatham in twelve hours for three dollars and fifty 
cents, the meals being extra and infamous. At Shediac. 
John Q. Adams keeps the Adams House, and will fur- 
nish information by letter as to the time of the starting 
of the boats. Bowser's Hotel is the best in Chatham. 
From Chatham to Bathurst, forty-five miles, you are 
compelled to travel in a stage that only leaves three 



[12 THE SALMON. 

times a week, and never on the arrival of the boat, and 
will occupy ten hours of your time at a charge of three 
dollars and a half ; or you may take an extra for sixteen 
dollars. If you hire one of Kelley, the stage proprietor, 
make a tight bargain, for he is Biblical and takes in 
strangers. In case you should be too late to reach 
Bathurst the same day, or have leisure on your hands, 
stop at the Half-way House on the Tabasintac, which 
has the last syllable accentuated, and fish that night 
and the next morning for sea trout. They are taken 
from a horse-boat in abundance and of great size. 

In Bathurst there is a good hotel called the Welling- 
ton, kept by Mr. Baldwin, with the efficient aid of Mary ; 
and also a more private establishment, by Bela Packard, 
which is the customary resort of Americans. There is a 
telegraph from St. John to Bathurst, and Baldwin will 
meet at Chatham any guests that send him word, and 
bring them to Bathurst for fourteen dollars. In the 
latter place, Ferguson, Kankin & Co. will furnish all 
the heavy outfit, such as pork, biscuit, butter, tea, sugar, 
tobacco, and will have them ready put up if written to 
beforehand. As it is customary on the Nipisiquit to 
loan the guides blankets, the same firm keep them on 
hand, and will lend them to those that buy stores of 
them. Once or twice a month the Arabian leaves She- 
diac and stops within a couple of miles of Bathurst, and 
if you can manage to suit your time to hers, you can go 
direct and be ticketed through for ten dollars. Her 
days may be ascertained at the office of the Boston boats, 
but it is well to telegraph to Bathurst to have a canoe to 
meet you, as otherwise you may have difficulty in reach- 



THE SALMON. 113 

ing town from the landing. The same steamer and its 
associate, the Lady Head, run to Dalhousie, at the 
month of the Restigouche, or a stage for that place 
leaves Bathurst three times a week. The Lady Head 
does not stop at Bathurst, on account of her draught of 
water. 

On the Erpisiquit it is customary to have a camp- 
keeper or cook for the party, and two canoemen to each 
angler ; they furnish the canoe and receive one dollar a 
day each. The following are good men : John, Peter 
and Bruno Chamberlain ; John makes a good fly, but is 
sulky and willful ; Bruno- is lazy ; JSTed Veno and David 
Buchet, both of whom arc excellent and willing, and 
Fabian Bodereau, who is a fair cook. To save your men 
some heavy work, where you do not intend to fish the 
Rough Waters, you drive with your stores to the Round 
Rocks, the Pabineau Falls, or, if you please, even to the 
Grand Falls, but the latter part of the road is bad. 

The only fishing on the Miramichi is above Boiestown, 
and to reach it you leave St. John in the night or day 
boat for Fredericton, arriving there in eight hours at an 
expense of one dollar and a half. The night boat runs 
three times a week. The best house in Fredericton is 
the Barker House, kept by Mr. Fairweather, and in this 
city you must get your supplies for the woods. The 
stage leaves every Tuesday and Friday for Boiestown, 
nominally at ten a.m., and reaches that collection of huts 
nominally at six p.m. The fare is two dollars and a half, 
and the ordinary charge for an extra is ten dollars, but 
remember the stage proprietor is Kelfey. The best 
tavern in Boiestown is kept by Avery, but about five 



114 THE SALMON. 

miles up the river, at Campbelltowii, is a nice house 
owned by William Wilson, and the true plan is either to 
write to him to meet you at Fredericton, or drive over 
to his place. He will engage your men, aid you with 
the supplies, provide you with bread, besides making you 
generally comfortable, and you have gained so much in 
the ascent of the river. The stage from Boiestown runs 
to Chatham, and by that means you may continue to 
the Nipisiquit, but there is no reliance to be placed on 
it, and an extra from Fredericton to Chatham, one hun- 
dred and ten miles, costs thirty dollars. The stage fare 
is seven, and there is no telegraph to Boiestown. 

One of the most interesting ways of reaching the 
various rivers of New Brunswick is by portaging from 
the head-waters of one into those of another. For 
instance, a steamboat leaves Fredericton semi-weekly, 
when the water is not too low, for the Grand Falls on 
the St. John ; a few miles above, the Grand River 
debouches, from the head-waters of which a short port- 
age of a few miles takes you into the Waugan, one of 
the branches of the Restigouche, or you may stop below 
the Falls and ascend the Tobique, a noble river, full of 
salmon, but which, strange to say, will not take the fly, 
and from Lake Nictou, the source of the Tobique, you 
can readily portage into Lake Nipisiquit, and by ascend- 
ing the main forks of the latter, a short portage puts 
you on the TJpsal quitch, a branch of the Restigouche, 
and abounding in salmon. Another confluent of the 
St. John, the Shiktahauk, is crossed at its head by the 
Royal Road, where a wagon can be had to convey your 
baggage to a branch of the Southwest Miramichi, and 



THE SALMON. 115 

from Newcastle, at the mouth of the latter river, yon 
can ascend the Northwest Miramichi and strike the 
Nipisiquit near the Grand Falls. These are but a few 
of the simplest voyages that may be made, but a glance 
at the map, or a talk with any old Indian guide, will 
reveal many others. * 

* Travelling in the Dominion has been much improved since the feregoing was 
written, and the hotels are better. The expenses of living are higher than thsy 
were, but still much cheaper than in the United States. 



116 NEW BRUNSWICK. 



CHAPTER VI. 

NEW BRUNSWICK. 

One bright moonlight night in the early part of Bum- 
mer, a heavy wagon, drawn by two powerful horses, was 
bowling along one of the dreary level roads of the 
province of New Brunswick. It was loaded down with 
trunks on the rack, barrels under the seats, that were 
built on springs above the sides for that purpose, and 
bundles and bags innumerable in the bottom, and two 
long leathern cases that suggested salmon rods. It car- 
ried three men ; the driver, tall and spare, with a shrewd 
eye, and long, curly, black hair, was turned half-way 
round in the seat, assuming an attitude that combined 
comfort with facility of conversation. On the back seat, 
a middle aged gentleman, whose hair and beard were 
silvered o'er, but whose eye was bright as in his earliest 
youth, and a younger man of stout build with brownish 
hair and beard. Their talk was of the forest, and many 
thrilling tales of danger, or exciting ones of the chase, 
were told; vivid descriptions of how the moose, the 
caribou, the red deer, met his fate ; stories of the tiger, 
the wild boar, the rhinoceros and unwieldy elephant ; or 
peaceful description of killing the beautiful trout, the 
fierce, striped bass, or the voracious mascallonge. The 
time wore pleasantly away as they passed along between 



NEW BRUNSWICK. 117 

the sombre lines of spruce and hemlock and juniper, as 
they ran into the deep shade or emerged into the open 
moonlight till they came in sight of the Nashwaak, 
seaming the dark earth like a vein of silver, when a glo- 
rious view presented itself to their attention. Far away 
as the eye could reach, stretched the valley of Nashwaak, 
silent as the repose of death ; not a sound but the rat- 
tle of the wheels broke the still air, while the moon 
bathed the rocks, the earth, the trees, with its uncertain 
light, formed weird shapes out of the foliage, or cast 
strange shadows across the road. Still on, however, 
scarcely pausing — as every true sportsman must pause 
before the beauties of nature — the party were soon lost 
in the shady descent that led toward the bank of the 
stream, whose course they followed some miles, crossing 
it beyond, over a high, substantial bridge. The road 
then branched off, traversing the unbroken wilderness, 
where for miles not a habitation was visible, till mid- 
night found them amid a heavy shower at McCloud's, the 
half-way house from Fredericton to Boiestown. 

The horses under the shed, a sound thumping on 
the door brought out the host, who attended to the wants 
of man and beast, and sent them on their way rejoicing, 
as soon as the storm had abated. There was little vari- 
ety in the scene ; the road was mostly level and good, 
the forest was of the same dull character, with many 
dead trunks towering up amid it ; there were few houses 
and no settlements, and the country was principally ore 
vast plain. As the morning light began to streak the 
east with grey, they came in sight of the peaceful Mira- 
michi, and turning off from the main road across the 



118 NEW BRUNSWICK. 

Taxes Kiver, followed the course of the larger stream, till, 
nearly opposite a beautiful spring, where they had 
stopped to water their horses, they turned into a barway, 
and in a moment more reached Wilson's, their prospec- 
tive head- quarters. 

Wilson's habitation was a quaint-looking log house, 
perched on the edge of a bank overhanging what is 
called the interval, or fruitful stretch of level land lying 
between the river and the hills, and its evident antiquity 
bore testimony that it had belonged to one of the earliest 
settlers. 

A well-stocked garden, an extensive barn, a large 
drove of sheep and cows, suggested what an industrious 
and comely wife and daughter confirmed, that Wilson's 
was a well-to-do family. 

As a general thing, the people of this region are of the 
most short-sighted possible character ; they live for the 
present, and an easy way of making a dollar is irresistible, 
though it may entail the final loss of ten. The country 
is slowly going back to a savage condition ; farmers, 
instead of attending to their farms, speculate in lumber, 
because it enriches one man in fifty; mortgage their 
farms, which are sold under foreclosures to strangers and 
allowed to grow up with weeds and bushes. Tens of 
thousands of acres are in this condition, and are being 
fast rendered irreclaimable. Instead of encouraging fish- 
ermen to come and spend money among them, although 
they admit it is about the only money they see, they 
annoy and overcharge at such a rate that they have 
driven away all but a few from Fredericton. Insteac 1 
of preserving and increasing the fish, they obstruct the 



NEW BRUNSWICK. 119 

channel entirely with nets, striving by one grand haul to 
destroy the supply forever. To this general rule Wilson 
is the only exception, and may be relied on, not only to 
do whatever in reason is required of him, but to do it at 
a moderate price. His only extravagant charge is for 
driving to Fredericton to meet his guests. 

The guides were waiting for us, and after making the 
requisite preparations and passing a comfortable night 
in the old log house, we started next day on our journey 
toward the head-waters of the Miramichi. Our canoes 
were made of the log of a tree, and familiarly called 
dug-outs, and were admirably adapted to the purpose. 
Being extremely long, sometimes thirty feet, and nar- 
row, they offer every convenience for poling, draw 
but little water, and are not injured by contact with a 
rock, that would pierce the thin bark of the delicate 
birch canoe, and will hold their way better against a 
strong rapid. They are made of the trunk of some tow- 
ering branchless pine-tree that the adventurous woods- 
man has marked during the winter for his own, and 
which, after being cut down, is transported to a conve- 
nient place, where it is hewn into the shape of the outside 
of the boat. Augur holes are bored in the bottom, and 
pegs, tw T o inches long, are driven, to answer for guides aa 
to thickness. The inside is then roughly hewn away, 
till the pegs are reached, when it is smoothed off, being 
left two inches thick at the bottom, and a half inch at the 
gunwale. Slender knees are introduced at proper dis- 
tances to prevent its warping under the sun ; a brace is 
fastened across from gunwale to gunwale, near the stem 
and stern, and the boat is complete. It is worth about 



X20 NEW BRUNSWICK. 

twelve dollars, and having neither braces nor thwarts, 
but an open space its entire length, is convenient for 
holding a long rod, and being steadier under foot, offers 
many advantages over the birch canoe. It is particularly 
excellent in descending a shallow river, where occasional 
contact with rocks is inevitable ; but is too heavy to 
portage comfortably. For rapid travel, either up or down 
stream, it is invaluable. 

Our baggage was stowed, a comfortable seat made 
with the end of the tent upon the bottom of the canoe, 
our rods were rigged out for an occasional cast, and w T e 
commenced the ascent of the " Smiling Water." There 
had been heavy and continuous rains, and quite a freshet 
had now changed its ordinary placid exterior into one of 
angry turbulence. The river poured down fierce and 
wild, crested with foam and discolored with sand and 
decayed matter. But we made swift progress ; starting 
five miles above Boiestown, we soon passed the last 
settlement, and entering among the mountains, amid 
which flows the upper stream, trusted ourselves alone 
to the dangers of the wilderness, to the mercy of the 
black-flies for our comfort, and to our skill as sportsmen 
for our support. 

Ten months of close confinement in the city, years 
amid the horrors of civilization, had well prepared us 
to appreciate a return to man's natural state of savage 
life ; long contact with vice and folly had made us eager 
to taste once more of truth and purity, the communion 
with nature uncorrupted and unsullied ; to feel the aii 
blow through the waving trees instead of down narrow 
streets; to hear the water rippling over its native bed, 



NEW BRUNSWICK. 121 

a«*d not through Croton pipes ; to see the sun shine from 
out the blue sky, instead of being reflected amid murk 
and smoke from heated bricks. 

The spruce and fir-trees stretched in solid mass like a 
green wall on either side; occasionally, a white pine 
loomed above them, or a birch, with its satin bark, 
broke the dull hue ; or where the landscape was more 
open, the graceful elm or willow stood forth in solitary 
beauty ; and the juniper, with its endless names of hack- 
matac, tamarack, larch or cypress, waved its weird arms 
aloft ; or the light, quivering poplar, with its never- 
resting leaves, cast an uncertain shade. 

The weather had been changeable all day, occasionally 
bright and pleasant, the next moment dark and lowering 
— now the sun shining bright and warm over the hill- 
sides, then the rain driving in spiteful showers and veil- 
ing them in mist. The storm no sooner forced on our 
overcoats than the sunshine persuaded them off. Toward 
night, when heavier and blacker clouds obscured the 
sky, we determined to camp, and chose a point opposite 
a little tributary rivulet called Sandy Brook. 

That evening and the next day were passed complet- 
ing our camp equipage of tables, chairs, basins, and 
various little articles, and in waiting for the river to fall. 
During this time one of those pleasant incidents occurred 
that are intensely enjoyed in rough woodsman's life ; two 
gentlemen who had been up the river and were returning, 
stopped and dined with us. There was a grand discussion 
over flies, resulting in a mutual exchange, and a general 
mourning over the condition of the water, with, how 



122 NEW BRUNSWICK. 

ever, the encouragement that the freshet had destroyed 
the nets and let the fish up to the higher grounds. 

Next day we killed our first fish of the season. I had 
goue above the island at the head of the pool opposite 
our camp, and was fishing slowly down, taking occasion- 
ally a brook trout, when there came a heavier rise, a 
louder plash, and a fierce run that made my reel discourse 
sweetly. The fish had struck me in the broken water, 
and it was uncertain what he was till suddenly he sprang 
twice his length out of water, showing the silvery sides 
and gleaming scales of the lovely grilse ; again and 
again he sprang in air, making the water fly as he fell 
back, and doing his best to break the line or shake out 
the hook. Bravely he fought, taking advantage of the 
current to run out line, and rubbing against rocks to cut 
it through. In vain, foiled at each attempt, his strength 
rapidly diminishing, he was slowly brought nearer and 
nearer, till a dexterous blow of the gaif finished the 
struggle. 

Joyful at the good omen, we hastened to our camp, 
and were met by my companion, Dalton, who proudly 
exhibited a similar trophy. There was a grand supper 
that night, and strong hopes that the flood would abate, 
hopes that were destined to a cruel disappointment when 
next day the stream was found to be higher than ever, 
and heavy clouds portended a second deluge. 

Our next camp was at Still Water Brook, a name that 
the present condition of that streamlet strongly belied. 
We did not, however, remain long, our sport being con- 
fined to grilse, and not many of those, and when an Eng- 
lish officer, who had been fishing above, called to say he 



NEW BRUNSWICK. 123 

had taken all the fish he wanted at a station further on. 



we broke up camp at once, to the great disgust of our 
lazy cook, who thought he had cut his " sprunghungle," 
or stick that supports the kettle over the fire, for the last 
time. We pushed on to Burnt Hill, a famous camping- 
ground among all those that fish the Miramichi, and 
there, on the open point near the rock at whose base is 
the deep pool where salmon lie when the water is warm 
we established our sylvan home for the last time. 

Burnt Hill is so named from having been burnt over, 
years ago, and is still a mass of dead and blackened 
trunks, that tower in fantastic shapes toward the sky. 
Next morning, having selected my choicest cariboo fly, 
Abraham pushed the canoe across the boiling torrent, 
so that I could fish near the rocky shore opposite. Hav- 
ing made several casts toward the bank, he swung the 
canoe in, and, running its nose on a rock, gave me a 
chance to fish the centre of the channel. I had hardly 
cast, when from out the curling wave rushed a mighty 
monster, which gleamed a moment in the sunshine and 
disappeared. I felt a heavy, dull strain on my rod, the 
fish swam deep and seemed unconscious of what had 
happened. Then, suddenly aroused to his danger, a 
magnificent salmon rushed down-stream and vaulted 
high out of water. Abraham glanced at me ; I returned 
the look, but not one word was spoken. The fish 
returned to his former station, as though disdaining a 
struggle with a fragile cord and contemptible fly, and 
remained there some moments, heavily swimming round 
and round. Suddenly he became alarmed, and away 
he went, thirty yards at least, the line whistling through 



124: NEW BRUNSWICK. 

the rings and the reel hissing with the speed. He made 
a splendid leap and paused. 

I had just time to tell Abraham to swing his boat off 
the rock where she was resting, when the fish started 
again. Down he darted ; the rod bent, the line flying 
through the water, and after him came the pursuers. 
He hesitated an instant above the worst rapids, and then 
sped down them ; once in a while I could see him amid 
the foam and flying spray, as he rolled himself half out 
of water over some heavy wave ; but my attention 
was occupied in keeping the line clear of rocks, and not 
exerting too much strain upon it. Admirably did 
Abraham handle the canoe. He was alone ; the water 
seethed and boiled round us broken into a mass of fierce 
waves, small cascades and gleaming foam. It poured 
with raging current over high bowlders, and swept be- 
tween narrow rocks. He stood erect in the stern, his 
eye taking the measure of every falls, the strength of 
every eddy ; he swung the canoe's head first one w x ay 
then another, easing her down over the higher waves, 
that, curling against the stream, broke over the bow in 
mimic showers, and pushing strongly through the circ- 
ling eddies. 'Not a rock did he touch, not a moment did 
the boat escape from perfect command, and when we 
were launched upon the quiet bosom of the deep pool at 
the foot of Burnt Hill Rapids, the fish was on the line. 
We each drew a long breath and again exchanged 
glances. It was a beautiful spot to kill a fish. The 
water, all white and raging above, formed a broad eddy, 
that washed the base of the rock on which I now stood. 
Although there was still a strong current in the centre. 



NEW BRUNSWICK. 125 

an expanse of clear water spread out at our feet, into 
which, after each rush, the fish could be easily led, and 
where his macl leaps were the only risk. It was om 
first fish, and I exercised the utmost care; not^tiil he 
was almost dead did I force him to the surface, where 
Abraham, with one blow of his gaff, brought our prize 
to land. 

What a beauty she was ! The small, delicate head 
pronounced her a female, the destined parent of myriads 
cut off in her prime. The brilliancy of her flashing 
scales gave token that not long since had she been roam- 
ing free from danger along the shores of the seacoast, 
and her broad back and deep chest announced her heavy 
weight. Glorious in her outward appearance, our keen 
appetites pictured to our imaginations the rich red flesh 
in layers, with flakes of pearly fat between, the delicate 
thin sides of the stomach, the depth of solidity in her 
broad back. Our thoughts dwelt for a moment on the 
fine juicy flavor her fifteen good pounds would furnish 
for many a meal. But above all did we recollect with 
pride how well both of us had done in killing the first 
salmon in the Miramichi. 

Mr. Palton had been watching the contest from the 
bank opposite, and we returned together to the camp, 
where libations were duly poured forth in honor of our 
first capture, and preparations were made for a grand 
entertainment. 

That evening around the fire, after supper was finished, 
and the genial pipe was soothing as well as invigorating 
our minds, and after several personal adventures had 
been related, Duncan commenced the following history of 



12# NEW BRUNSWICK. 



THE GHOST OF DEADMAn's LANDING. 



" You saw that point of land we came by the othei 
day, where I told you a dead man was carried out from 
the woods? Well, I was there when he was killed. 
We had been logging in the woods, and doing pretty 
well till we tried to draw out an uncommon heavy stick 
of timber. Sam Masters was with us — we used to call 
him Swearing Sam, from a bad habit he was given to — 
and Sam had taken a great idea to have that stick of 
timber taken out before night ; but the horses were tired 
and it was late, and after we had dragged it part of the 
way all but Sam proposed to leave it till to-morrow. 
But Sam insisted that he was not going to give up, and 
when we all agreed to quit, he got mad and swore he 
vould have that timber out alone if lie had to go to 
hell for it, and work till the day of judgment. We 
tried to persuade him off, but stay he would, and we left 
him with the horses and returned to our camp, which we 
had made at the landing. After supper was finished, 
and it began to be late, we became anxious about Sam, 
and when he did not arrive, at near midnight, all hands 
set out to look him up. 

" We had not much trouble to find the horses ; they felt 
cold and hungry, and were neighing for their supper, 
but were surprised to see the log rolled off the truck, 
and Sam gone. But the next thing we noticed was 
Sam's head just out from the edge of the log, that lay 
across his body. It was an awful sight ; the moon was 
shining bright on his face, that was turned up toward 



NEW BRUNSWICK. 127 

the sky, but all swollen and discolored, with the eyes 
wide open and starting out of their sockets, and his 
tongue sticking out of his mouth, and the blood frozen 
round his nostrils and the corners of his lips. He musi 
have been dead for hours. We had a hard time to roll 
the log off, and then he was mashed all out of shape, so 
we carried him the best way we could to the shanty, and 
next day wrapped him in a blanket and took him down 
the river. His wife was all struck of a heap Avhen she 
saw him, for Sam was a good husband ; if he did swear 
more than he ought, he never swore at her." 

u He would have been squelched sooner if he had," 
put in Dalton, sotta voce. 

" "We felt pretty bad," continued Duncan; " but after 
a few days had to go back and finish hauling the logs, 
for we had a lot cut. It was cold weather, and the wind 
howled through the pines till sometimes, at night, we 
almost thought we heard hallooing in the woods, but no 
one cared to go out and see. About two weeks after our 
return, I happened to leave my axe where I was chop- 
ping, and as snow had begun to fall pretty fast, and it 
might be snowed over, I went back after it. I had 
forgotten precisely where it was left, and lost a good deal 
of time looking about, all the while the snow coming 
harder and harder, so that the track was soon covered. 
That was not much matter, for I knew the country well ; 
but it was growing dark, and the snow blinded me, so 
that I could not see plainly. 

" You may believe I did not delay any ; but after hur- 
rying on as fast as possible for an hour or two, thought 
things lc oked strange ; the trees grew thick and the 



128 NEW BRUNSWICK. 

ground rough and steep, and I could not tell where 1 
was. I searched about for some landmark, but it was 
almost dark, and after trying in vain, and having a heavy 
overcoat with me, but no matches, I was about to crawl 
under the roots of a dead tree and make the best of it, 
when I heard somebody shouting in the distance. 

" There is no mistake, but I was glad, and sung out 
back, and clambered over the trees and stones toward 
the voice ; but what was my surprise, on approaching, 
to see our own team, and one of the boys driving. They 
had no intention of hauling another log, and must have 
been foolish to think of it in that snow ; but, stranger 
than all, when I called, did not stop or take any notice. 
To tell the truth, I began to feel mighty queer, especially 
as the driver was shaped uncommon like Sam, and I 
suddenly remembered that it was that night a month ago 
when he hauled his last stick of timber. I followed 
slowly along and never said a word ; the driver, whoever 
he was, was riding on the log, and now and then his 
voice shouted out what sounded in the storm mighty like 
a curse. Suddenly the drag struck a stump, the horses 
made a spring, the log started, the driver tried to jump, 
but slipped, and the log fell on him with crushing force. 
There was an awful shriek in the next blast that drove a 
shower of snow in my eyes, and when 1 looked again, 
horses, log and man were gone. I knew well enough 
<vhere I was then, and did not take long to reach the 
camp, when the boys hardly knew me, I was so white 
and dazed like." 

" Let us see," said Abraham, holding his chin in a 
thoughtful way ; "it was after that you swore off liquor?" 



NEW BRUNSWICK. 129 

" Yes/' said Robert. " The other boys hardly knew 
the liquor cask they had left in the woods next day, if 1 
have heard right." 

" You need not laugh, boys," said Duncan, solemnly ; 

there is no fun in seeing a ghost, and I had not taken 
more than a few drinks. Besides, you know how, next 
year, when Jake, and Dick, and some others were in the 
same camp, they heard Sam's old chest, that we had left 
there, creak as though some one had sat on it, and how 
the shanty door was taken off the hinges and held 
upright in the middle of the floor. And the black dog 
that left no track in the snow, but used to run along the 
ridge pole of moonlight nights, when nobody was in the 
shanty; and, finally, how the roof was all taken off 
when Tom's party was there, and although it was covered 
with snow, not a drop fell inside. No, no, spirits are 
no laughing matters." 

" Especially prime spirits," suggested the cook. 

"Jamaica or Holland, but I never heard of New 
Brunswick spirits before," said Robert. 

"Well, I can just tell you one thing," said Duncan, 
aroused ; " there is not one of you dare sleep in that 
shanty alone. Come, I will pole any of you down there 
to-morrow that would like to try. Who will go ?" 

A dead silence fell on the party, for, truth to tell, 
though bold enough round the fire together, the dwellers 
on the Miramichi are a good deal given to superstition, 
and not one of the party but some time or other had 
fancied he heard Sam's ghost shouting to his team of a 
Btormy night near the landing. 

" Well," said \braham, slowly, " I never saw but one 

6* 



130 NEW BRUNSWICK. 

ghost. It was a moonlight night, with a little snow on 
the ground, and I was alone, crossing a cleared lot 
ivhere the stumps stood pretty thick, when I noticed, 
crouched down behind one of them, a figure of some 
sort that looked like an old woman. It had no bonnet 
or hat, nothing but a cap on its head ; it wore a long, 
tattered dress, that blew about in the wind, while I could 
just make out a pair of thin, white arms ; but her face 
was black as a coal. It is no use to say I was not 
scared, for I think I was. There were some crazy people 
about at that time, who had escaped from the madhouse ; 
but I was pretty sure I could outrun any of them, 'spe- 
cially a woman, and I knew it was no use running from 
ghosts, so I concluded the best thing to do was to keep 
right along and pretend to take no notice ; but, do my 
best, I could not keep my eyes off the old woman. I 
tried to whistle, but not a sound would come. I only 
blew a little, and not very steady at that. I tried to 
sing, but the first note I uttered made me jump ten feet ; 
I thought it was somebody else's voice, as sure as fate. I 
had sidled off as far as I could on account of a gully 
there was, and did not like to go down that for fear she 
should think I was afraid. The distance between us 
was growing less and less, and as I watched her sharper 
than ever, she appeared to make one or two moves, and 
then stop ; but all of a sudden, she jumped up, threw off 
her clothes, and started after me. I uttered one yell, and 
turned ; but, as luck would have it, caught my foot in a 
root under the snow, and rolled headlong down the steep 
side of the gully. 

" I do not know what I said, I think I prayed ; but I 



NEW BRUNSWICK. 131 

made considerable noise, anyway, and poked my head 
into a bush, and tried to burrow under the snow. This 
lasted some time; but hearing nothing more, and not 
finding myself killed, my courage returned ; I took out 
my head, and slowly crawled up the bank. Peering 
carefully over the edge, I saw a stump where the old 
woman had been crouching, burnt at the top, with some 
snow on it; there was a dead bush and roots at the 
bottom, while a little further off lay a quantity of dead 
birch bark, waving about in the wind. ' Abe,' said I 
to myself, ' you have been an awful fool to take a fired 
stump, a little snow, and some birch bark for a ghost. 
Never do so again.' And I never have, and have never 
been so scared from that clay to this." 

After a hearty laugh at Abraham's fright, Robert was 
called upon, and responded as follows : 

" I cannot tell you a ghost story, but one of as scared 
a man as ever was seen. It happened at this very place, 
too, when we were camped on this spot, and was brought 
to my mind by what you were reading to-day of the man 
hunting a grizzly bear, and leaving off because the track 
got too fresh. Jim Baker was with us. He had lived 
most of his life in the settlements, and had only just 
come among us, but could play the fiddle and sing 
a song, and must have had a good ear for music, for 
among the first things he did was to learn to call moose. 
He was uncommonly proud of the performance, and 
though he had never seen a moose, promised to keep the 
camp in meat. Well, he kept calling all the time, and 
sure enough one day, while we were camped here, a bull 
answered. 



132 NEW BRUNSWICK. 

" A good hunter might call till he was grey before he 
could bring a moose in broad daylight right up to the 
camp ; but it was a fool's luck, and sure enough we soon 
heard him rapping through the bushes, and then jump 
into the brook and begin wading down. Jim had out 
the gun, and started off to crawl along the edge in the 
bushes to meet him. We could see them both ; Jim 
crept along as fast as he could at first, and the bull came 
faster yet down the stream without showing a sign of 
fear. Soon Jim began to go slower, and finally stopped 
altogether, while the moose kept right on toward him, 
till he was within fifty yards, when he paused and took 
a general survey. Jim raised the gun, but when he did 
so the animal seemed to have his curiosity aroused, and 
advanced several steps toward Jim, who lowered his gun, 
and backed a few paces till the moose stopped again. 
Jim again raised the gun, and again the moose advanced 
and Jim retreated. This went on till the moose became 
satisfied, and with a snort bounded into the bushes and 
was gone. When Jim came back -we asked him why he 
did not shoot, and he said w T e need not think he was 
afraid ; he intended to shoot, but did not know how the 
gun carried ball." 

The next day my friend killed his first salmon, and 
strange to say, thus we continued to the end, each catch- 
ing precisely the same number of fish. The days were 
beautifully warm, and rather given to weeping, but fresh 
and bracing ; whereas the nights were deliciously cool, 
almost too cold for Summer, and demanded plenty of 
warm blankets. Living in the most primitive but com- 
fortable style, feeding ofif a rough table, and often cook 



NEW BRUNSWICK. 133 

ing half the din nor ourselves, but with a glorious feeling 
of entire independence, the heavens above, the earth 
beneath, and all nature round us, we had a splendid time, 
and man j fish came to our net. 

Thus the pleasant days flew by ; the sport ever 
honest, manly, invigorating and exciting, varying in 
luck, at times abundant in its yield, and then utterly 
unproductive — the uncertainty added zest ; while the 
evenings and hot middays were enlivened with the story, 
joke or latest novel. Many an idle hour, when the sun 
shone too resplendent for the hope of sport, did we 
while away, the men seated or stretched at length in 
various picturesque attitudes, and one of us reading 
aloud. But the time came when this was to end, and on 
the eleventh day the edict was promulgated to break up 
camp and return. 

The tent fell and w T as packed, the pots and pans were 
huddled together, our camp stores stowed, and we reem- 
barked for the descent of the river. Keeping rods 
ready for an occasional cast, we swept along ; the water 
was high, our men were good boatmen, the canoes were 
strong, and we rushed through the foaming torrent at a 
gallant rate. 

At Rocky Bend my friend struck five fine grilse suc- 
cessively, and lost all but one, much to his chagrin. He 
laid it to the size of his hooks, alleging they were too 
large ; but what genius will arise to explain how it is that 
salmon break away without any severe strain on, or 
damage to, the tackle. Is it a defect in the shape of the 
hook \ If so, should it bend to one side, or curve in or out 
at the point % Or is it in the force of striking, or place 



134 NEW BRUNSWICK. 

where the hook holds ? The matter is so complex, that 
the most careful investigation has left me even without 
ft theory. Some of my friends swear by one of the 
above plans, others by another ; I have tried them all, 
and still the fish escape as frequently as ever. 

As we approached a well-remembered spot where I 
had taken a fine grilse in ascending, Abraham slowly 
said : 

" Take care as w r e come down to this pool, for I am 
like the man that once shot a bear at a cleared spot just 
below, and whenever afterward he came to the same 
place, he clambered on the highest stump, and looked 
around to see whether there was not another bear. 
Wherever we took one fish, I always expect to take 
another." 

I told him it was somewhat the same with me, but in 
that instance we were doomed to disappointment — there 
was no second bear. 

At Sandy Pond we made our camp for the night, as 
my friend had never seen a fish killed with the spear, 
and, although admitting its unsportsmanlike character, 
wished to experience how it was done. 

When darkness had settled down, our men kindled a 
flaming fire of pine knots, in an iron basket attached to 
a pole that projected from the bow of the canoe, and 
seating my friend amidships between them, pushed off. 
They pulled against the stream, the bright light bringing 
out the stones at the bottom of the water in strong relief, 
exposing everything within a radius of twenty feet. 
Behind it stood the spearsman, erect, his quick eye 
glancing in every direction, the firelight falling upon 



NEW BRUNSWICK. 135 

his reddened visage and illuminating his many graceful 
attitudes. With rapid motion he swung the spear from 
side to side as any passing object attracted his attention, 
ready for the death-dealing blow. "With perfect facility 
he kept command of the boat, shoving her bow from the 
rocks and guiding it through the proper channel ; occa- 
sionally the spear was sent glancing through the water, 
and in a moment a grilse brought struggling to the sur- 
face and thrown into the bottom of the canoe, where the 
fire rays were reflected from his scales like the liquid 
gleam of the diamond. 

It was a picturesque sight, the waving flame, the 
active spearsman, the graceful canoe, and the intense 
darkness around ; but it was cruel and barbarous, and 
my friend desisted before many fish had suffered. 

Next clay returned us safe and sound to Wilson's hos- 
pitable log mansion, where a hearty welcome awaited 
us. Our extra stores were divided among the men, a 
farewell spoken, the team once more harnessed, and we 
set out to join the stage at Boiestown for Chatham, on 
the road to the Nipisiquit. 

A strange place is Boiestown ; built by an American 
named Boies, it is a mere collection of unpainted shanty- 
like houses but with Yankee shrewdness, located upon 
a fine stream of never-failing water, with excellent mills 
and water power, it might have been a thriving place 
had not Boies, its presiding spirit, met with reverses. 
The maelstrom of lumber speculation had ingulfed him, 
and with him the prosperity cf the town. There was no 
native capable of filling his place, and the glory of Boies- 
town had departed. 



136 NEW BRUNSWICK. 

The stage was due at six o'clock, but at six o'clock it 
did not come, nor at seven, eight, nine nor ten. We told 
Wilson to return for us in the morning, and retired to 
rest in the nearest tavern, leaving word to be called 
when it did come. 

At midnight there was a pounding at the door an- 
nouncing the arrival of the conveyance that was to carry 
us and our baggage, two heavy trunks, seventy miles. It 
was a light one horse-wagon. We went to bed again, 
and next morning found the stage-driver still at Boies- 
town, having turned out his horse to graze. 

Wilson, however, soon arrived, and we started on that 
dreary road, following the descent of the Miramichi to 
its mouth. There is one, and but one, pretty view in 
the entire seventy miles, and that is as you ascend the 
first mountain beyond Boiestown. Looking back, the 
peaceful valley that we had just left, stretching away 
to our camping-ground, lay basking in the sunlight. 
In the distance, scarcely visible among the trees, were 
the few houses that compose Oampbelltown ; nearer was 
the straggling village of Boiestown, and at our feet ran 
the placid river, leaving broad intervals upon its banks, 
and meandering between smiling islands. The hay was 
ripening in the meadow, the oats were still luxuriant in 
their fresh green, the bushes lined the occasional fences 
or marked out the narrow swamps, while here and there 
were dotted the majestic white pine, the towering spruce, 
the noble elm or the graceful willow, and a dead tree now 
and then stretched its ungainly limbs toward the clouds. 

Beyond, however, we fell into one dull, dreary routine ; 
civilization was behind us, the few farms once cultivated 



NEW BRUNSWICK. 137 

were falling back into their savage state, the houses 
tumbling down, the barns in their last stages of dilapida- 
tion, everywhere windows broken out, doors off their 
hinges, huge cracks in roof or walls, told of general 
decay. The people had fled, no one knew whither ; and 
of the few that were left, the stupidity, avarice and 
extortion were incredible. They impose upon and annoy 
travellers and fishermen till they have almost driven 
them away. The stages fail to run or to connect as 
they undertake to do. No one appears to know their 
times of starting or arriving. Boats advertise to leave 
on days when they never have left, to stop at places that 
are not laid down on the map, but are colloquially 
applied to an entire district ; and omit places where they 
do stop. No man knows anything except his own indi- 
vidual business, and but little of that. The inhabitants 
mainly draw their support from the river, and yet are 
busy day and night endeavoring to ruin it ; the nets 
from opposite shores lap over one another or reach from 
bank to bank, and are set week in and week out, while 
there is a fish running ; the smallest mesh is used, small 
enough to capture trout or herring. The few fish that 
lo reach the spawning beds are chased with the merci- 
less spear without cessation till long after they are worth- 
less as food. Yet the people think the river has improved 
because the laws are partially enforced at its mouth. 
Netters complain of the spearers, and the spearers of the 
netters, but neither do anything but harm. The upper 
stream is alive with nets, although netting should be per- 
mitted nowhere above tide water. 
The only crops of the region are potatoes, oats and 



138 SEW BRUNSWICK. 

hay ; for nine months there is rigorous winter, and for 
three months cold weather. The great productions are 
black flies, midgets and mosquitoes. The Lord help 
such a people, for the people will never help themselves. 
Let my blessing remain with the land; I shall never 
return for it. 

The river itself is not only lovely to contemplate but 
would afford to reasonable beings abundant support. In 
May and June the Gaspereau or alewives, a species of 
herring, Alosa Tyrannus, make their appearance in 
myriads, and ascend to the lakes to spawn ; in June and 
July the beautiful sea trout appear in shoals and urge 
their course to the head-waters and the cool brooks ; in 
July and August come the splendid salmon, struggling 
against every impediment that the wit of man, or want 
of wit, can place in their way, to perpetuate their species 
for that foolish man's support, and build their nests in 
the broad sandy pools. The lively, energetic grilse 
come last, fighting vigorously to reach their sylvan 
homes. Not one of all these races is taken fairly or 
properly, nor when his destruction will do most good 
and the least harm. 

Having dined at Decantelon's, we reached Lynch's by 
dark, where we supped and passed the night, and next 
day, after breakfasting at Magee's, arrived at New- 
castle by nine in the morning. Seeing a boy, my friend 
inquired : 

" Boy, when does the stage leave that runs to New- 
castle ?" 

" A'most any time ; one has gone, but there will be 
another going in an hour or two." 



NEW BRUNSWICK. 139 

lC Where does it start from ? We must inquire for our- 
selves, I see." 

u Oh, anywhere round the streets ; up one street and 
down another." 

" Now that cannot be," continued my friend sternly ; 
" it must start from some place, and we do not wish to 
miss it." 

" Well, it will be along ; it goes all around." 

" It has to cross that ferry, I believe," said my friend, 
almost savagely. 

" Yes," said the boy. 

" We will wait there where it cannot miss us." 

" Why, there it comes now ; don't you see it on the 
other side of the river ?" 

Sure enough, there it was ; and from that moment it 
never escaped our eye. There was a post-office near by. 

"Postmaster," said my friend, a as you must know, on 
account of your official position, will you tell me when 
the Princess Royal leaves Chatham for Shediac." 

" Oh, yes ; every Monday and Friday. It is advertised 
in the paper." 

" Now there is some satisfaction about this," and out 
came his note-book. " Every Monday and Friday — ah, 

yes, the paper says Why, the paper says Monday 

and Thursday !" 

" Impossible ! So it does ; why she never sails on 
Thursdays. There must be some mistake." 

" Somewhere no doubt," said my friend, despondingly, 
returning the note-book; nor was be much relieved by 
being afterwards informed by the stage-driver that she 
sailed neither Thursday nor Friday, but only Monday. 



140 NEW BRUNSWICK. 

At Chatham, Mrs. Bowser received us hospitably and 
noisily, and there we met some good sportsmen and fine 
fellows. The sportsmen are the salt of New Brunswick 
earth ; they have not a trait in common with the other 
inhabitants, but are jovial, friendly and open-hearted. 
One cannot know too many nor see too much of them. 
We owed them many thoughtful attentions, which we 
will repay to them or others of the race of fishermen, 
passing on the obligation. 

Forty-five more miles of weary road, crossing in its 
course the Tabasintac, that splendid trout stream, and 
we reached Bathurst, where we found the guides await- 
ing us at the Wellington House, having received our 
telegram, and next day we began " life in the woods " 
once more. 

Our camp was pitched at the Hound Rocks, the lowest 
fishing station on the Nipisiquit, whither we drove with 
our luggage in a wagon, and met the canoes. Our rods 
were hastily put together, and in Rock Pool, at the 
second cast, I took a fine grilse. Others followed, and 
next day came the salmon. Splendid fellows just from 
the sea, their scales resplendent with the reflected light of 
their ocean homes; solid, strong and brave, leaping 
again and again, madly disdaining restraint, and fighting 
fiercely till the last. The water was strong; in some 
places the rapids were impassable. Sad to tell, the fish 
knew it, and alas, too often darted down them, whisking 
their tails in joy at their recovered freedom. Our sport 
was magnificent. 

After fishing the Round Rocks and the Bush Falls, we 
ascended the river to the Pabineau Falls, where we 



NEW BRUNSWICK. 141 

paused only to exchange friendly greetings with two 
fellow fishermen, and continuing through the dark, silent 
waters of the Bittabock, dined at the Middle Landing, 
where the stream pours s*eething in its narrow channel 
between high rocky banks, and where it is said to be six 
fathoms deep. We passed another angler at the Chain 
of Bocks, and reached the Grand Falls and pitched our 
tent on its precipitous shores by sundown. 

Wild indeed is the scenery at the Grand Falls, the 
highest point the salmon reach. The falling water, in 
long ages, has worn away a channel between high bluffs, 
and now, in ordinary seasons, pours through a narrow 
gorge that once could be leaped across, but which has 
been blasted to admit the passage of timber. The sheet 
of water falls in a mass of foam some forty feet, the spray 
rising in volumes, and producing in the summer's sun a 
beautiful mist rainbow. The granite rocks have been 
worn in deep holes by revolving bowlders, and in winter 
the whole chasm, filled with ice and water, must be 
grand and impressive in extreme. 

There is a smaller, second fall, which the salmon occa- 
sionally try to leap ; but they spawn in the pebbly beds 
below, the whole course of the stream, especially at the 
basin a short distance from the falls. 

The principal natural fly of the Nipisiquit is about 
three-quarters of an inch long, has a yellow body and 
orange tip, two short whisks and two long, yellow 
antennae, six thick yellow legs, a large, black head, a 
thick yellow body with nine rings, and four reticulated, 
dull yellowish, transparent wings. They are not very 
abundant, but there are many small nocturnal flies, that 
will be drawn together with a light in swarms. 



142 NEW BRUNSWICK. 

It is extremely interesting to stand on the rocks over- 
hanging the river and watch the salmon, their every 
motion distinctly visible, and their numbers readily 
counted. "When one is casting the fly, his companion 
can see the fish move to take it, and call out when tc 
strike. Salmon seem to rise very slowly and deliberately 
and can be observed of a bright day together in crowds, 
holding their own against the current with a scarcely 
perceptible effort. Not one in a hundred will notice the 
fly ; ordinarily nothing but the fins are in motion, but 
occasionally an individual will give a flirt and turn up 
his side, which flashes like silver through the water. 

We fished the Camp, the Falls, the Rock and Cooper's 
Pools with great success ; the fish were numerous, fine 
conditioned, large and strong. We had many a fierce 
contest ; often was our line run out for seventy yards ; the 
fish made splendid leaps and vigorous rushes, but we lost 
very few, as there was but one bad place. That was 
below the Falls Pool, where a stake had caught in the 
middle of the current ; I found its locality by losing a 
fine grilse and a casting line. 

The days wore on most pleasantly ; salmon occupied 
all our thoughts. The first thing in the morning we 
looked for salmon, then we fished for salmon, then we 
breakfasted on salmon, and then again fished for them ; 
then made flies to catch them, next dined on them, again 
fished for them, and then supped off them, and lastly 
dreamed of them. But the happiest and longest of sum- 
mer days must end ; our time came to return, and the 
camp was struck. 

The river is quite evenly divided between the various 
stopping-places, and it is almost exactly three miles 



NEW BRUNSWICK. 143 

between each. There are six good fishing places: the 
Grand Falls, Middle Landing, Bittabock, Pabineau Falls, 
Round Rocks and Rough Waters. 

We stopped at our original camp, the Round Rocks 
and there we struck our last fish. My friend hooked 
in the middle of the current a noble specimen, that gave 
such splendid play that I laid down my rod to witness 
the contest. The bright sides of the fish, as he leaped 
again and again out of water, proved that he was fresh 
run and strong, an impression his fierce rushes confirmed. 
He was played with great care and delicacy ; but alas ! 
suddenly darted across the current, took a turn around a 
rock, and returning passed round another. All hope was 
given up, but when the canoe was skillfully pushed across 
after him, he was found to be still on and the line uninjured 
by the smooth rocks. My friend, greatly rejoiced, had 
another severe contest, and foiled two determined efforts 
at escape down an impassable rapid, and when compelled 
to follow him through some very rough water, did it in a 
masterly style, standing erect in the canoe, which was 
ably handled by the two Chamberlains, and guiding the 
fish through the safest channel. Nearly an hour had 
been expended, and the fish, almost exhausted, made one 
last effort to reach the next rapid, and being prevented, 
came alongside, feebly turning over and over. My friend 
unfortunately had put on a double leader and could not 
reel up short, so the salmon lay deep under water, dimly 
seen, when John attempted to gaff him. At that instant 
the fish turned, the gaff slipped, he made a rush into the 
current, and one cry from my friend, " There, he's off," 
told the tale. The line sprung up into the air, we looked 



144 NEW BRUNSWICK. 

at one another in silence ; the occasion was too sad for 
words. My friend sat down upon the rocks in despair ; 
I felt for, bnt had no power to console him. At last, 
slowly and sadly, he broke the mournful silence : " Let 
us go home," he said ; and we went. 

Good bye, lovely Nipisiquit, stream of the beautiful 
pools, the fisherman's elysium ; farewell to thy merry, 
noisy current, thy long quiet stretches, thy high bluffs, 
thy wooded and thy rocky shores. Long may thy music 
lull the innocent angler into day dreams of happiness. 
Long may thy deep holes afford secure havens of safety 
for the salmon, where they can bid defiance to the rapa- 
cious net and murderous spear. Long may thy romantic 
scenery charm the eye and gladden the heart of the artist 
and welcome the angler to a happy sylvan home. And 
often may I visit thee, beautiful Nipisiquit ! 

So much attention has been paid during the last few 
years to the increase and protection of salmon in Canada 
and New Brunswick, that the Nipisiquit, which was once 
one of the best rivers, has fallen into a second rank ; not 
that it has deteriorated, but because others have im- 
proved. Privileges are allowed to single rods at so much 
a day for the fishing, which is generally hired by the firm 
I have mentioned in Bathurst, but before going, the 
sportsman had better communicate with the Department 
at Ottaw T a, as leases are continually being changed. 



WHITE TROUT OF THE SCOODIAC. 145 



CHAPTEE VII. 

WHITE TROUT OF THE SCOODIAC, OR ST. CROIX. 

I am unable to give a scientific description of these 
beautiful and delicious fish, and believe they have never 
been properly described. They however closely resemble 
a dwarfed salmon, and have been supposed to be these 
fish landlocked, prevented, by a natural or artificial 
obstruction, from completing their annual migrations to 
and from the sea. The better opinion, however, is that 
they are a distinct fish, and the color of their sides natu- 
rally suggests the above appellation, although they have 
no popular name. The name Scoodic is applied gener- 
ally to the St. Croix River, its lakes and tributaries, and 
in Maine they are known as the St. Croix Trout, in New 
Brunswick as the Scoodic Trout, while Mr. Perley sug- 
gests that they may be the Grey Trout. 

They are, however, extremely tame and numerous, 
take the fly readily, afford excellent sport, and delicious 
eating. They weigh from one pound to four, and may 
be taken in hundreds. The season commences about the 
first of June, and lasts throughout that month, and the 
best flies are the gay ones, composed mainly of feathers 
from the golden pheasant. The scarlet ibis and Irish 
lake flies are prime favorites. 

The steamer of the International Line, from Boston or 

? 



146 WHITE TROUT OF THE SC00DIAO. 

Portland, connects at Eastport with a river boat for Ca- 
lais, whence there is a railroad to Lewis' Island. From 
Lewis' Island it is nine miles to the fishing-ground, six 
of which are by water and three by land. A man 
named Goole will take the baggage over the portage, 
and the best fishing is above the Grand Falls, between 
the first two lakes. Inquiries must be made at the time 
about the necessity of carrying the canoe across the por- 
tage, as often no canoe can be obtained at the fishing- 
ground. Of course the angler must expect to camp out, 
and will provide himself accordingly. 

Since the above short article was written, these fish 
under the name of land-locked salmon, or Winnonish of 
the Indians, have received much attention. Raised arti- 
ficially in large numbers, they have been distributed 
through many waters of the United States, but do not 
seem to take well to their new homes. They have been 
domesticated at the New York State hatchery, but no- 
where can they be said to furnish wild fishing, except in 
their original habitat, St. Croix and Sebago lakes and 
streams. 



WHITE-FISH. 147 



CHAPTER 7IIT. 

WHITE-FISH. 

Ooregonus Albus — Attihawmeg. — Although included 
in the salmon family by having the second dorsal adi- 
pose, and the fin-rays soft, this fish differs totally from 
e'ther the trout or salmon. It has minute velvet-like 
teeth, scarcely perceptible to the touch, except on the 
gill-arches, where there is a row of long and slim ones, 
like bristles ; the scales are large and the body com- 
pressed like that of a shad, and it has been called the 
Fresh- water Shad. The mouth is very small, utterly un- 
suited for seizing the prey on which the trout and salmon 
feed ; the color of the back is greyish blue, and the sides 
white. 

Fin-rays, D. 13.0 ; P. 17 ; V. 12 ; A. 13 ; C. 19|, the 
second dorsal being adipose. 

The proper appellation for this fish is the Indian 
name, Attihawmeg, and if sportsmen would in all cases 
follow the names used by the aborigines they would 
show more sense than the common people of our coun- 
try, who think every fish with a spiny back fin must be 
a bass, and every other a trout. The Attihawmeg 
abounds in Lake Huron, where it attains a weight of 
twelve to fourteen pounds, and is tolerably abundant in 
Lakes Erie, Ontario and Michigan- It feeds on mussels 



148 WHITE-FISH. 

and shellfish, or on aquatic plants, and is usually taken 
in nets. The general opinion is that it will take no bait, 
natural or artificial ; but it might be tempted by the 
artificial fly, or perhaps the cray-fish. It is the finest 
fresh-water fish of America upon the table, having no 
rival that approaches it in excellence except the Otsego 
bass. But being extremely delicate, it should be eaten 
immediately on leaving the water, and is never in condi- 
tion in the cities. If it has been frozen, as is always the 
case in "Winter, the Attihawmeg is utterly worthless. It 
is unsurpassable split and broiled, very similar in appear- 
ance and flavor, only much superior to the shad. It is 
not properly a game fish, whatever may be thought of its 
delicacy of taste and appearance, but a description of it 
is necessary to complete the series and to distinguish it 
from certain others. 

To take it, however, as the Indians do in the Sault Ste. 
Marie, with long-handled scoop-nets, amid the roar and 
rush of the seething waters is no mean sport, and re- 
quires a readiness of hand, sharpness of eye, and steadi- 
ness of foot possessed by few men. Its artificial culture 
has been made a matter of special concern in the States 
bordering on the great lakes. 



Cisco. 140 



CHAPTEK IX. 

CISCO. 

1 record a description of this fish for the purpose of 
calling to it the attention of those who have the requisite 
knowledge to determine what it is, and beg naturalists, 
if it is still unclescribed, to leave it its own pretty, ori- 
ginal name. It inhabits Lake Ontario, near its outlet 
into the St. Lawrence, and is taken in the neighborhood 
of Cape Yincent. It is one of the Coregonus group, but 
neither the White-fish, Attihawmeg, Coregonus albus, nor 
the Otsego Bass, Coregonus Otsego. It may be related 
to the Coregonus clupeiformis, although differing much 
from the meagre description of the latter in the accounts 
copied one from another, of Dr. Mitchill, Lesueur, and 
Dr. De Kay. 

The Cisco is not so compressed nor deep as the white- 
fish ; the teeth are more delicate and velvety, and in the 
gill arches are a few long, distinct, slim teeth or bristles. 
The mouth is smaller than that of the white-fish, and 
when open, perfectly square. The scales are similar to 
those on the latter, but the tail is so delicate as to make 
counting the rays mere guesswork ; the point of the 
tongue is hard, the back colored green, the sides silver 
white, while the first ray of the pectoral, ventral and 
anal fins is darkish. The first dorsal has ten soft rays , 



150 CISC0 - 

the second is adipose ; the pectoral has fourteen soft 
rays, the ventral eleven, the anal twelve, and the caudal, 
as well as I could count them, fourteen. It is a very 
beautiful and delicate fish, more so even than the white- 
fish. 

The cisco is taken at Cape Yincent, with the eel-fly 
baited on a small hook and dibbled along the top of the 
water, and is said not to notice any artificial fly. I unfor- 
tunately had no chance to try, though I saw them rising 
and taking the natural fly readily. They do not rise with 
the rush of a salmon or trout, never springing out of water, 
and simply show their heads as they seize their prey. 
The eel-fly is a fat and sluggish fly, and it may be that 
the fish rising slowly, as they naturally do, would disco- 
ver the deception even if an imitation eel-fly were offered 
to them. This fly, as I have elsewhere observed, is simi- 
lar, both in appearance and habits, to the famous Euro- 
pean May-fly. 

The fish known as the lake herring, salmo dupeifcr- 
mis, although very similar in appearance, has certain dis- 
tinctive characteristics ; for instance, there are minute 
teeth on the tongue, and the fin-rays, as I make them, 
are — 

D. 12 ; P. 16 ; Y. 11 ; A. 11 ; C. 19f ; B. 9. 

According to Lesueur — 

D. 12 ; P. 16 ; Y. 12 ; A. 14 ; C. 19f . 

In the lake herring I also found the first ray of the 
dorsal the longest, although Lesueur says it is simple 
and short ; the tail is deeply forked. The dorsal termi- 
nates nearly opposite the ventrals, and the second dorsal 
is opposite the centre of the anal. 



OTSEGO BASS. 151 



CHAPTEE X 



OTSEGO BASS. 



Coregonus Otsego. — This fish must be carefully distim 
guished from the Oswego Bass, there being no resem- 
blance except in the stupidity of confounding by name 
one of the perch family, to which the latter belongs, with 
one of the salmon family, to which this belongs. The 
Otsego Bass is closely allied to the white-fish, but has 
numerous dusky longitudinal lines on the sides. Its 
mouth and scales are small, and it appears to have no 
teeth except the bristles on the gill-arches. The lateral 
line is nearly straight, and the tail is deeply forked. 
The back is a rich blue, fading into green, the sides bril- 
liant with mother of pearl, and the belly gleaming like 
molten silver. The rays are as follows : 

Br. 9 ; D. 13 ; P. 17 ; Y. 11 ; A. 11 ; C. 22. 

The second back fin, as in all the salmon tribe, is ad: 
pose and rayless. 

These fish have as yet only been found in Otsego 
Lake, where they are rapidly diminishing in size and 
numbers. They are not known to take any bait, and 
are presumed to feed on aquatic vegetation. Early in 
spring they seek the shallow water for a few days, when 
they are taken in nets ; but shortly retiring to the 
deepest water, they remain till Autumn, when they 



152 OTSEGO BASS. 

again seek the shores to spawn. They never exceed 
four pounds, and rarely two, and though undesirable 
on table, are not a sportsman's fish, and have been 
described only that they may be distinguished from 
other species. 

The general opinion now is that the Otsego bass is the 
white fish, improved by purity of water. To test this, 
large numbers of the latter have been deposited in Otsego 
Lake under the direction of certain public spirited 
citizens. 



THE BLUE-FISH. J 53 



CHAPTEK XI 



THE BLUE-FISH. 



Temnodon Saltator — Scomber Plumbeus (Mitchill)— 
Horse Mackerel — Green-fish of Virginia — Skipjack of 
South Carolina. 

This fish belongs to the mackerel family ; it has pro- 
jecting teeth in the fore part of the jaws, and velvety 
teeth on the roof of the mouth and tongue. The first dor- 
sal lies in a furrow, and there are two minute spines con- 
cealed under the skin before the anal. The scales extend 
over the head, gill-covers and high on the fins ; the back 
is bluish-green, and the sides and abdomen lighter ; the 
pectorals, second dorsal and tail are greenish-brown, 
while the ventrals and anal are white, tinged with blue. 
The gill-cover has two indistinct flat points. The fin- 
rays are as follows, the spines being distinguished from 
the soft rays. 

D. 7.1.25 ; P. 17 ; Y. 1.5 ; A. 1.27 ; C. 19| 

These fish furnish one of the most remarkable instances 
of the appearance and disappearance of species on our 
coast. As in our day, with the Spanish mackerel, that 
darling of the gourmand, so in former times, the blue-fish 
appeared suddenly. He was first seen on the coast of 
Massachusetts in 1764, and then not again till 1792 ; and 
it is only since the year 1 830 that he has been abundant. 



151 THE BLUE-FISH. 

He seems to have superseded another and larger fish of 
the same name, and as his numbers augment, those of 
the weak-fish, otolithus regalis, diminish. The blue-fish 
has singular vagaries, sometimes crowding every inlet 
in swarms, and then deserting us altogether, visiting in 
one season one locality and in the next another, but ordi 
narily frequenting our entire coast north to Massachusetts. 

They afford excellent sport on a rod and line, being 
among the strongest and boldest of their kind, taking 
the fly readily, and making fierce and well-sustained 
rushes ; but from the localities they usually frequent, 
they are mostly taken with a hand-line from a sailboat. 
An artificial squid of bone, ivory or lead, is trailed along 
at the end of forty yards of stout line, from a boat 
dancing merrily over the waves under the influence of a 
fresh mackerel breeze. The boatman's business is to 
watch for a shoal, which can be seen by their breaking, 
and when he has found it, by repeated tacks to keep the 
boat in or near it ; the fisherman's duty is to haul in 
steadily and regularly immediately on feeling a bite, 
and to get out his line again as soon as possible. The 
fish dart forward, and throwing themselves out of water, 
turn a complete somersault, when, if the line is not taught, 
they will throw the hook out of their mouths. The clash- 
ing of the waves and flying of the spray, the rapid exhi- 
larating motion of the vessel, the fresh sea-breeze, the 
rapid biting and fine play of the fish, make a day pass 
pleasantly if they do not afford scientific sport. 

Blue-fish attain a weight of thirty pounds, and the 
largest being usually taken outside the bars, beyond the 
breakers, are a source of much amusement to our yachts- 



THE BLUE-FISH. 155 

men ; but the arms of the fisherman soon weary, and 
their hands, unless protected by leather gloves, are often 
seriously lacerated. The fishing can hardly be said tc 
begin till July, and continues till late in the Autumn ; 
the smaller fish are taken early. 

If cooked when just out of their native element, these 
fish are excellent, but they soon lose their flavor. They 
should be broiled, or split and nailed on a shingle and 
roasted quickly before a hot fire. 

Undoubtedly they could be taken with the trolling 
spoon, and a stout leader of double gut running on 
swivel traces attached to a dark hand-line would adc 
greatly to the success. In fact, like all other fish, at 
times they are shy and must be fished for with fine 
tackle, and then the rod and line come into play. In 
fishing with a rod from a sailboat, the moment a fish is 
struck the sheet is eased off, the boat run up into the wind, 
and the fish killed at leisure ; if the boat were kept in 
motion, the strain would be too great for the rod and 
reel. 

One of the favorite haunts of blue-fish, although they 
frequent the entire length and breadth of the Great 
South Bay of Long Island, is Fire Island Inlet; and 
there, of a bright summer day, may be seen congregated 
the white sails of fifty boats tossing about in the roll of 
the breakers, clustering together as the shoals collect, or 
scattering far out to sea in the hopes of better luck. 
There, when the wind blows, they may be seen under 
double reef, plunging along, throwing the spray from 
their bows, or, if a milder day, under full sail, generally 
a single one, sweeping over the quiet waters. Moderate 



156 THE BLUE-FISH. 

weather is the best, and it is no use fishing unless the 
fish are on, which means that their visits are variable. 
At midday, when they generally cease biting, the adven- 
turous fisherman may land on Raccoon Beach, immor- 
talized by the genial wit of J. Cypress, jr., and either 
cook his fish by a fire built from the waifs of the sea, 
which I decidedly recommend, or get a fashionable din- 
ner from Dominy or " t'other man " that keeps a hotel 
there.* At this time it will be found, and I note the fact 
for the benefit of future generations, that a little liquor 
containing condensed carbonic acid gas and vulgarly 
called champagne, with water reduced to the tempera- 
ture of freezing and commonly called ice, will be pleas- 
ing to the palate and beneficial to the inner man. In 
explanation of this episode, I may say I have just been 
there. 

* Mr. Dominy has gone, but Mr. Royal Sammis keeps a large and fashiorable 
hotel at Fire Island, which every sportsman should visit at least once in his life, 



SNAPPING MACKEREL. 157 



CHAPTER XII. 



SNAPPING MACKEREL. 



Temnodon Saltator. — One of the gayest, merriest, live* 
liest, little fish that chases and devours those smaller 
than himself, and is chased and devoured by such as are 
larger, is the Snapping Mackerel, the young of the pre- 
vious species, but individualized from the voracity with 
which he snaps at the live or dead bait. He is a beau- 
tiful, silver-sided little fellow, weighing from an ounce 
to half a pound, and makes his appearance in immense 
numbers along our coast in the latter part of September 
or fore part of October. 

" Whence he comes, 
Whither he goes, 
Nobody cares 
And nobody knows." 

He must have just arrived, however, from the parents' 
spawning ground, his diminutive size proving that he has 
not been long out of the shell. He roams about, at first 
in small numbers, but soon increasing to multitudes, and 
gives active chase to the minnow and spearing, that may 
be seen momentarily springing out of water in their 
frantic efforts to escape his charges. He lurks in the 
foaming water of a mill-tail or sluiceway, or in the eddy- 
ing current of the receding tide, watching for his prey 



158 SNAPPING MACKEREL. 

as the j swim or are drifted along unsuspiciously. He 
makes one dash, a dozen startled spearing leap into the 
air, and swim for dear life ; but the victim is generally 
carried off, a dainty and epicurean meal. 

Spearing invariably swim near the surface ; they haunt 
the gates of tide-mills when the tide is rising, and are 
drifted in with the current when the gates open before 
the advancing waters. The snappers take the opportu- 
nity, not merely to plunge among the shoals before the 
gates lift, but afterward, when the spearing, who are 
helpless in a strong current, are swept along, to pounce 
upon them. 

Of course in such places they can be captured with 
most success. When they first make their appearance, 
not longer than your forefinger, but tender and delicate 
beyond belief, they may be found at low water in the 
rivulets of white froth that run bubbling from holes and 
leaks in the mill-gates. The best mode of taking them 
at this time, for they are small and fastidious, is with a 
salmon-rod and a tiny spearing on a Limerick hook ; by 
making casts and drawing the bait along the surface of 
the water and through the frothy eddies, the young inno- 
cents are deceived, and thinking to prey upon their 
weaker brethren, become themselves a palatable viand 
for larger creatures. They break like trout, without 
throwing themselves out of water, but with a noisy snap, 
and if they miss the bait at first, will follow it resolutely. 
It is no mean sport to stand upon the old worm-eaten, 
weather-stained bridge, and wield the long rod, playing 
your allurement over the water to the music of the rush- 
ing current and the steady clack of the mill-wheel, and 



SNAPPING MACKEREL. 159 

see one after another of the green-hacked, silvery snap 
pers dart from under the accumulated froth, chase and 
swallow your bait„ and no slight satisfaction to observe 
the increasing number in your basket, and think of how 
your friends will enjoy their supper that night. 

There is one singular fact to be observed, that whereas 
blue-fish invariably take the invitation squid, or artificial 
fly, with voracity, the snapping mackerel, except in the 
South Bay of Long Island, can rarely be tempted by it. 
In Lono; Island Sound I have failed with the flv and the 
spoon entirely, and have found the gutta percha minnow 
to work only passably, whereas in the South Bay they 
are taken readily with a leaden squid, of a peculiar 
shape, run on a large hook and polished bright. 

The spearing is their favorite food, but the extreme 
sensitiveness of that remarkable little fish, that renders 
keeping him alive impossible, injures the attractive- 
ness of the bait. As has been elsewhere observed, 
when small fish are used, it is desirable to keep them 
alive if possible, and the snappers will often give the 
preference to a lively killey, that by his efforts to escape 
incites the eagerness of their pursuit, over a dead spear- 
ing, that by his peculiar manner of resting in the water 
arouses their suspicions. 

As the season advances, the fish are found in all rapid 
currents of the salt water, and the barred killey is by far 
the most killing bait. The best way of rigging your 
tackle is to have a small float and light swivel sinker, 
below which there is a short leader of gut. The latter is 
fastened to the middle of a piece of whalebone or wire 
about two inches long, to each end of which the hook, 



160 SNAPPING MACKEREL 

dressed on gut, is attached. As the teeth of these vora- 
cious fish are sharp, and after being hooked they snap 
continually, the silk whipping of the hook, as well as the 
gut itself, is soon bitten through. Either a small quill 
may be slipped down over the hook before it is attached, 
and into this the teeth sink without damage, or care must 
be taken to put a couple of half hitches with the snell 
over the shank, as the whipping wears out. 

A light rod and reel are necessary for this spore, and 
there is the same skill and excitement in the repeated 
casts that lend to striped bass fishing one of its peculiar 
charms. The morning hours, the last of the ebb and first 
of the flood, are the most propitious times ; but as the 
Fall advances, any hour, tide or place will furnish sport 
in abundance. 

I was once fishing with a friend whose experience is 
greater with the pencil than the rod, on one of those 
glorious evenings of what might be properly styled in 
our country " fiery brown October," and our success 
made us unmindful of the fleeting hours that had bid the 
sun farewell and welcomed the moon from her bed. 
Cramped as we had been in a cockle-shell of a boat, we 
had taken one of the thwarts and the oars, and placing 
them across the gunwale, had made two high but dan- 
gerous seats. The boat was extremely unsteady, and 
many and solemn had been my unheeded warnings to 
move as little as possible, and to exercise care in what- 
ever motions were unavoidably necessary. The fish were 
out in force, and seized our bait frantically the instant it 
touched waves, over which the moonlight glanced in 
tiny ripples. A northeaster had been blowing, but, dying 



SNAPPING MACKEREL. 161 

away, left only a long, heaving swell, that w r as broken by 
neighboring projecting rocks, and in no wise added to the 
steadiness of the boat. Our eagerness increased with 
the increasing darkness, and when unable longer to see 
our floats, we cast out and reeled in, finding generally a 
worthy reward for our pains. The fun grew fast and 
faster ; at one particular place we were always sure of a 
fish. To reach it was a long cast, and my friend, in an 
effort to excel himself, leaned back for a vigorous throw, 
lost his balance, and toppled overboard. His weight, as 
he went on one side, careened the boat, threw me down 
to leeward, and let the water pour in over the gunwale 
in barrels. Down almost under water I saw the other 
gunwale turned up and nearly over me, when my friend, 
falling headlong out, gave the boat a lift, of which I 
took advantage by getting back amidships pretty well 
ducked, but not yet cast away. The water was nearly 
up to the seats, but by careful balancing, I could keep 
her afloat. Imagine ray horror when my friend reap- 
peared from the oozy depths to which he had descended, 
and commenced madly trying to clamber over the side. 
I begged and besought him to think of what he was 
doing ; that I was still partially dry ; that my watch was 
a patent lever ; that I had a family of small children ; 
and that the boat would never, in her present state, hold 
us both. Reluctantly he listened to reason, and allowed 
me to bail her out with a bucket we had provided to 
carry our fish. As I threw out the water I could just 
see with deep regret, in the moonlight, the sparkle of 
fish after fish that I was unavoidably throwing away, and 
that I hoped would have served so different a purpose. 



162 



SNAPPING MACKEREL. 



She was finally freed of water; hats, oars and rod were 
picked up, the latter by means of the float that was 
calmly fishing all by itself; my friend, who had swam to 
and was shivering on a neighboring rock, was taken 
aboard, and we returned, solemn and sad, my friend very 
cold and myself greatly disgusted. 

In fishing, therefore, for snappers, it is better not to 
fall overboard ; but if, by your awkwardness of doing so, 
you half fill the boat, never try to climb in over the side, 
but sacrifice yourself bravely. We were using on this 
occasion a bait that, late in the season, is often more suc- 
cessful than any other — a part of the fish himself. This, 
in the early fishing, they will not touch ; but in cold 
weather, frequently prefer. 

It is a singular fact, that although blue-fish have always 
abounded in the Great South Bay, snapping mackerel 
were unknown there till lately ; whereas, while the latter 
have been abundant in Long Island Sound from time 
immemorial, the former have never been taken there to 
any great extent. 




THE COMMON CARP 163 



CHAPTER XIII. 



THE COMMON CAKP 



Oyjprinus Carpio. — This, as well as the goldfish, Cy- 
prinus auratus, is not a native of our country, but has 
been introduced from Europe, and naturalists have sup- 
posed that there is no native carp of any size in this 
country. I have seen a fish called the Western Carp, 
which, although I had no chance to more than sketch its 
head, was certainly a true carp, and of four or five pounds 
weight. It had large scales, and all the fin-rays soft, 
except the first anal, which was robust. 

The common carp, which has increased with amazing 
rapidity till it is found everywhere in the Hudson River, 
has a small mouth, fleshy lips without teeth, large scales, 
three branchial rays and teeth on the pharyngeals ; has 
the first ray of the dorsal and anal fin serrated behind, 
has two barbels at the angle of the mouth, and a smaller 
one above on each side, small eyes, large nostrils, a high 
back and radiating striae on the gill-cover. The color if 
a golden olive, lighter underneath. 

These delicate fish, having become acclimated, and 
finding the Hudson River suitable to their wants, are 
increasing rapidly in size and numbers ; but none that I 
have seen equal the western carp or are properly game 
fish. 



1 04 MASCALLONGE. 



CHAPTER XIV 



MASCALLONGE. 



Esox Estor — Masqiieallonge — MusTcellunge — Muscat 
ling a — Masguinongy — MasTcinonge — Muscan on ga. 

The sides of the body are marked with numerous 
rounded, distinct greyish spots. Three bands of card- 
like teeth are situated on the roof of the mouth, on the 
palatines and vomer, converging to a point toward the 
snout. There are long, sharp, distinct teeth along the 
edges of the upper and lower jaw, and continued to the 
extremity of the latter, although some authorities assert 
the contrary. The gill-arches are also covered with 
teeth. Mascallonge reach a length of about six feet and 
a weight of seventy pounds, and the comparative length 
of the head with the whole fish is as one to four. The 
fin-rays are as follows : 

Branchial or gill-rays 20; Dorsal 18; Pectoral 16; 
Ventral 11 ; Anal 17 ; Caudal 24 ; according to my best 
computation. 

Br. 18 ; D. 21 ; P. 13 ; V. 11 ; A. 21 ; C. 19f — Dr. 
.De Kay. 

D. 21 ; P. 14 ; V. 11 ; A. IT ; C. 26.— Dr. Mitchill. 

D. 22 ; P. 18 ; Y. 13 ; A. 20 ; C. 26.— Prof. Agassis. 

The lateral line is not continuous, the under jaw is 
more elongated than that of the northern pickerel and 



MASCALLONGE. 165 

some fish have on their sides dark spots on a light grey- 
ish ground. 

The name of this fish is derived from Masque allonge^ 
Long snout, which is a translation from the Canadian 
Indian dialect, of Masca-nonga, words which have the 
same signification ; and from corruptions of these two 
designations arise our numerous names. I took great 
pains to ascertain precisely how the Canadian boatmen, 
who are a cross of the Indian and Frenchman, pro- 
nounced this name, although, in their French patois, he 
is ordinarily called Brochat, and the best my ears could 
make of it was Mae- or Muscallung, the latter syllable 
being guttural. But as the most sonorous, expressive 
and appropriate name is Mascallonge, it is desirable that 
all sportsmen should employ it. 

There is a dispute as to the size and weight that these 
fish attain, and while some writers claim for them a fabu- 
lous size, others entirely underrate them. Mr. S. D. Johns- 
ton, the proprietor of the Walton House, at Clayton, a son 
of Mr. Johnston, who was a prominent man in the Cana- 
dian rebellion, and for many years forced to hide among 
the Thousand Isles and live by his hook and spear, said 
that the largest fish he ever saw was taken by his father, 
who, in one night, speared two Mascallonge weighing 
respectively sixty-three and forty-two pounds. There is 
plenty of authority to prove that there was taken near 
Clayton, in the year 1859, a mascallonge that measured 
five feet seven inches in length, and weighed fifty -one and 
three-quarter pounds, that it was poor and thin, and in 
good condition would probably have weighed over sixty 
pounds. One fisherman caught in a single year twelve 



166 MASCALLOXGE. 

mascallonge, ranging from twenty-one to forty-four 
pounds. Larger fish and far greater numbers may per- 
haps be taken in wilder waters, and, indeed, in some of 
the lakes in the remote parts of Canada these fish are 
innumerable. 

Their length, proportionally to their weight, is, in con- 
sequence of their peculiar shape, excessive ; a fish of 
twenty-five pounds' weight will measure forty-six inches 
in length by six in depth, and a fish of seventy pounds 
it is presumed would be over six feet in length. Although 
this is not quite equal to the great pike of Pliny, that 
weighed a thousand pounds, and was drawn out by a 
pair of oxen, and caught on a hook attached to an ox 
chain, it must be regarded by the most fastidious as 
respectable for the present degenerate days. If the 
accounts we receive are reliable, the pike of Europe, of 
which the old song erroneously says : 

" Turkeys, carps, hoppcs, piccarel and beer 
Came into England all in one year," 

vastly surpass ours in size, a fish being taken in a pond 
near Stockholm with a brass ring round his neck, having 
an inscription to the effect that he had been put into the 
pond by the hands of Frederick the Second in 1230, or 267 
years before. He weighed 350 pounds, and measured fif- 
teen feet, and his skeleton was a long time preserved at 
Manheim. The ring was arranged with springs so as to 
enlarge as he grew. The Shannon is said to have pro- 
duced a pike of ninety-two pounds, and Lock Spey one of 
one hundred and forty- six ; but, when reading of these 
accounts, I feel like the Yankee, who, when boasting of 



MASC ALLONGE. 1(57 

his great country, and especially its great cataract, was 
somewhat taken aback by being told his land produced 
no volcanoes, nothing to equal Vesuvius or Etna, but 
who, after thinking a moment, replied : " That was true 
those were big fires, but he guessed Niagara had water 
enough to put them all out." So I think our mascallonge 
could eat up the biggest pike Europe can produce ; and 
it will be a pity if, when our country is as old as Europe, 
we cannot tell as extensive stories.* 

* The finer qualities of carp, the "leather " and " mirror "carp, have been intro- 
duced into America by Mr. Spencer F. Baird, the scientific and enterprising Com- 
missioner of Fisheries of the United States, and have proved a success. 



16& PICKEREL. 



CHAPTER XY 



PICKEREL. 



In some remarkable and incomprehensible manner the 
good old name of Pike has fallen into disuse, and is now 
applied in this country to a fish that is not a pike at all, 
but a perch, Lucio perca, the Pike Perch, Big-eyed Pike, 
or Glass Eye of the Lakes ; while the name Pickerel, 
which is merely the diminutive of Pike, is appropriated 
to the most gigantic and ferocious monsters of the deep. 
There is no fish whose appearance is more appalling, and 
whose appetite is more ravenous than the Great Northern 
Pickerel, which is alleged to attain a weight of twenty 
pounds, and which, in its fury, will pounce upon and 
swallow almost any small moving object. Nor does it 
much surpass the common pickerel of our ponds, which 
has very similar habits, and sometimes weighs as high as 
ten pounds. 

The pickerel family, like most of the fish of America, 
have never been properly classified by the scientific, nor 
named by. the vulgar. In fact, they, with the exception 
of the mascallonge, appear to have no specific names in 
common parlance, while naturalists have vague or no 
acquaintance with their peculiarities. Sportsmen and 
others speak of catching pickerel, whether it be in the 
St. Lawrence, Great Northern Pickerel, which seem to 



PICKEREL. 160 

have had no scientific designation till named by Agassiz 
Esox Lucioides, or on Long Island, Esox Easciatus, or 
on our principal inland waters, Esox JReticulatus, or in 
some of the lakes of the Eastern States, where a fish is 
caught, of which Dr. De Kay, in his " Natural History 
of New York," doubts the existence, and which Dr. 
Mitchill has dubbed the Federation Pike, Esox Tredecem- 
radiatus. In truth, the distinction between the Mascal- 
longe and the Great Northern Pickerel is scarcely visi- 
ble even to the eye of science, and to the unlearned is 
marked only by a slight difference in the shape of the 
head and the coloring of the sides. The light tint is yel- 
low in the pickerel and white in the mascallonge, while 
in the latter at times the sides have dark spots on a 
white ground instead of the dark network of the pick- 
erel. It has even been doubted whether these fish are 
not identical, and the differences of size and color pro- 
duced by local habits ; but the views of all practical fish- 
ermen lean the other way, and they can at once distin- 
guish the smallest mascallonge from the largest pickerel, 
although they are unable to point out the precise dis- 
tinctive characteristics ; while scientific men do make 
out that there is a difference in the number of the fin- 
rays. For the latter, however, although I have given 
the most careful attention that could be expected from 
an amateur, my enumeration differs from that of all 
others as they differ among themselves. My computa- 
tion of the fin-rays gave — 

Dorsal 18 ; Pectoral 16 ; Ventral 11 ; Anal 17 ; Cau- 
dal 24. 

"While according to Dr. Mitchill they were respectively, 

a 



170 PICKEREL. 

D. 21 ; P. 14 ; Y. 11 ; A. 17 ; C. 26. 

And according to Dr. De Kay — 

D. 21 ; P. 13 ; Y. 11 ; A. 21 ; C. 19f 

And according to Professor Agassiz — 

D. 22 ; P. 18 ; Y. 13 ; A. 20 ; C. 26. 

This goes to show that either it is very difficult to 
count the fin-rays, or that they differ ; to the latter of 
which suppositions my belief inclines, as I think the 
older the fish the more fin-rays are formed, or so hard- 
ened as to be perceptible. 

The habits of this class of fish are as similar as their 
appearance, and whether you capture a tiny pickerel with 
your fly in some shallow Long Island water, or entrap 
the huge mascallonge with a treble hook half concealed 
beneath red flannel and shining tin, they rush with the 
same eagerness and grasp with the same determination. 
I amused myself one evening on Long Island in casting 
over a newly-made shallow pond with my ordinary trout 
cast of flies, and seeing the ferocity with which pickerel, 
varying from four to nine inches in length, would dart 
upon their anticipated prey. 

All pickerel inhabit sluggish water, and abound among 
the long, grassy pickerel w r eed that thrives upon a muddy 
bottom. The St. Lawrence, where it winds amid the 
beautiful Thousand Isles and forms innumerable deep 
and quiet bays, is their favorite home. The water, flow- 
ing from the immense lakes and holding suspended the 
seeds of aquatic plants, is favorable to the growth of 
the pickerel weed, and is in every way suitable to the 
fish themselves. The latter, however, have great power, 
and can unquestionably stem a strong current, for no 



PICKEREL. 171 

doubt they ascend the rapids of that mighty river, being 
found in the eddies ; but they prefer quiet water, where 
they can lurk among the weeds, watching stealthily for 
their prey, or bask near the surface in the warm summer 
sun. Both mascallonge and pickerel abound in the innu- 
merable lakes of Lower Canada, and are so abundant in 
addition to being almost tasteless, as to be unsalable for 
food. 

In other waters pickerel are found in the summer 
months among the lily-pads, often in water scarcely deep 
enough to cover their backs. The federation pike I have 
never taken, except in some of the remote ponds of the 
wild woods of Cape Cod, near Sandwich and Wareham, 
especially in the Little Herring Pond. And although at 
the time I had no knowledge of the scientific distinctions 
of fish, I at once recognized the description which I saw 
for the first time afterward, but had often sought in vain 
among our works on ichthyology. All the pickerel 
family are readily distinguishable by their having but 
one dorsal, and that opposite the anal fin and near the 
tail, and the sportsman acquainted with one will readily 
recognize all the tribe. 

There are many ways of capturing this fish, and he is 
not the least particular if he is offered anything that has 
the semblance of food. He maybe trolled for with dead 
bait, generally a minnow, or better, a yellow perch, on a 
gang of hooks, or fished for with a live bait and a fioat, 
and he will readily take a frog, provided the latter shall 
not, as described in the " Angler's Miseries," have the 
intelligence to creep out upon a stone and watch the 
fisherman, while the latter watches his float ; but the 



172 PICKEREL. 

true way in open watei is to fish for liim with a spoon. 
The last is objected to as being too destructive ; but as it 
is clean, requires no bait, and is little trouble, and as the 
fish are utterly worthless either for sport or the table, the 
sooner they are destroyed and replaced by nobler sub 
stitutes the better. 

Among the water-lilies the only mode is to use a long, 
stiff rod and short line, loaded with one buck-shot aboul 
a foot from the hook, and baited either with a minnow, 
the belly of a yellow perch, or better than all, a slip of 
the skin of pork cut into something resembling a small 
fish. The latter never wears out, and can hardly be torn 
off, while it often is preferred to more natural food. 
The bait is dropped into the opening among the lily-pads, 
and sinking rapidly, by the weight of the shot, toward 
the bottom, is started up again by a twitch of the rod, 
and goes bobbing up and down till the pickerel, ren- 
dered frantic by such an absurd performance, can stand 
it no longer, and with one furious rush determines to end 
the gyrations of such, a silly creature. Never wait for 
pickerel to gorge the bait, discard such old fogy notions, 
and by the aid of a strong rod and line, pull him out at 
once. At least one-half the time fish eject the bait instead 
of swallowing it, and no one who has ever eaten pork 
can question their taste. Waiting five or ten minutes, 
or till they make two or three runs, will not do in our 
rapid country. I have seen fish that were corpulent with 
over-feeding, and surrounded by their favorite food, 
young herring, taken by a piece of themselves being 
spun in this manner, when they would touch no othei 
bait. 



PICKEREL. 173 

But the most wonderful mode of all is that practised 
in the St. Lawrence, and generally among the larger 
waters of Canada and the northern States. The fisher- 
man places himself in the stern of a light canoe-shaped 
boat, with his face forward, the oarsman sits near the 
bows, of course facing aft ; on each side of the fisherman 
are pegs like row-locks, or grooves, in the gunwale, with 
corresponding round holes in the stretchers on the oppo 
site sides ; two short, stiff rods are laid across the boat, 
projecting on each side like wings, kept in their places 
by the pegs, and their buts supported by the holes. A 
long line is let out from each rod, say forty yards, armed 
with a spoon bait ; while the fisherman holds an ordinary 
trolling-line in his hand, and is thus rowed about till 
either he, or more frequently his oarsman, perceives from 
the bending of the rod that he has a bite, or he feels a 
dead drag on his hand-line. If it falls to the share of 
the rod, he takes the latter up, ends it round till he can 
reach the line, when he pulls the fish in by hand. If he 
uses a reel, it is a good plan to take one or two turns of the 
line round it, so that it will just render. By so doing he 
might save the rod from breaking, which would be apt to 
happen with a heavy fish. Mascallonge invariably stop 
perfectly still when struck. 

In landing a fish by hand, which is always the prefer- 
able mode, the reel only being used for an emergency, 
hold the line very lightly between your fingers and give 
to every jerk or rush. Innumerable large fish are lost 
by an endeavor to pull them in by force, and I have seen 
men, with their hands cut by the line, complaining that 
they had lost a mascalonge of forty pounds. Pickerel 



174 PICKEREL. 

never make many nor long-sustained rushes, but they 
give powerful jerks and flounces that, if resisted, will 
tear out or break any hook ; otherwise, they can ordina 
rily be drawn through, or more properly over, the water 
like a wet rag. The person who pulls them in as though 
it was a question of strength between him and the fish, 
deserves to lose them and have his fingers cut besides. 
The moment, however, the fish is at the side of the skiff, 
he should be either gaffed or lifted over the gunwale 
at once, as more are lost then than at any other time. 
Their jaws are mere skin and bone, the skin tearing 
away at once, and the bone forming no substance in 
which the hook can imbed itself, the latter sometimes 
slips out or more frequently is broken off. If you value 
your fingers, never put them in a pickerel's mouth or 
gills, which are armed with innumerable sharp and even 
venomous teeth. The best weather for trolling is a light, 
southwesterly breeze, and in large and deep waters a 
bright sky ; in a heavy wind, it is impossible to manage 
the boat. 

The hook should always be on wire or gimp, the 
former preferable as the latter is so rarely what it pro- 
fesses to be, and of course should be attached to the line 
by not less than two swivels. The best spoon is the so- 
called Buel's patent, with three hooks, either in one 
piece, or soldered firmly together, and a small elliptical 
piece of tin, copper or brass, made to revolve round them 
by means of a shoulder on the shank. This may be tin 
on one side and red on the other, or copper and brass, or 
copper or brass alone, to suit the angler's fancy, and the 
shank of the hooks is wound with scarlet flannel, or 



PICKEREL. 175 

covered with the ibis feather, or left "uncovered, as expe- 
rience shall dictate. Bright spoons are preferable on 
dark days, and for mascallonge the oldest and most suc- 
cessful fishermen use no feathers or flannel. Avoid 
purchasing any spoon with small, dangling hooks, or with 
more than three or less than two, or with any fastening 
of any kind except wire or gimp. Nothing else will for 
a moment stand the terrible teeth of these ferocious 
monsters. I once had an expensive imitation pearl fish, 
that was fastened with thin brass wire, bitten off by the 
first pickerel that touched it. If you use a reel, you will 
of course use your ordinary bass line ; if not, purchase a 
common stout hand-line, and troll with from forty to fifty 
yards out. Tour trolling-rod must be short, stiff and 
strong, not over ten feet long, and can be readily made 
by adding a stout top to your but and second joint; 
while, for weed fishing, you must have a long, stiff rod, 
and when the fish are heavy and tangle themselves in 
the weeds, which their first rush will often do, you must 
reach your line and draw them out by hand ; by taking 
hold of the wire or gimp, you can readily land a ten- 
pound fish. 

These fish, both pickerel and mascallonge, can be cap- 
tured in immense numbers in the St. Lawrence, at Cape 
Vincent, Clayton, Alexandria Bay and many other 
places ; in Lake Champlain, near Rouse's Point ; and in 
all the lakes of Canada ; but they are dull sport in the 
catching and poor food in the eating. Believe no one 
who boasts of the fine flavor of the mascallonge , cook 
him as you will, he is nothing but a dirty, flabby, taste* 
less pickerel. And as for the sport, carry a blanket with 



176 PICKEREL. 

you, take a turn with the hand-line round your leg, and 
stretching yourselves as best you may in the bottom of 
the boat, sleej) comfortably till either a call from your 
oarsman or a tug on your leg rouses you to the dreary 
work of pulling in a worthless, unresisting log. "When 
you strike and lose one fish, remain rowing round and 
round ; if he is not much hurt, he will bite again, and 
where there is one there are more ; remain at that spot 
till, by passing over the ground once or twice without a 
strike, you are thoroughly satisfied you have exhausted 
the supply. There is sometimes great beauty of sce- 
nery, and if your guide has anything to say, which 
he rarely has, you can, as you should be able ever to do 
in the open air, enjoy yourself. 

The mode of fishing among the pond lilies that I have 
described is much more exciting, requiring continued 
activity, some skill and no little judgment, while there is 
greater risk of losing your prey. To avoid the latter 
casualty, if the fish weigh not over four pounds, lift him 
out at once, and proceed in the same way with larger 
fish to the extent your rod will stand. As for snap- 
fishing, that is, using a hook so constructed as to spring 
open or shut the moment it feels the bite, and thus 
grasping the fish or imbedding an extra hook in his jaws, 
I have only tried it sufficiently to be disgusted with it, 
although probably it may work well in open water. If, 
however, it touches a weed, it will be sprung, and then 
you cannot catch a fish at all till it is reset. It was 
invented to avoid the hook's coming out of the pickerel's 
mouth, which, from the nature of the latter, it is apt to 
do, a difficulty which old, slow, poky, English punt- 



PICKEREL. 17^ 

fishers endeavor to remedy by allowing the pike or jack, 
as they call him, to gorge the bait. A pickerel, like a 
trout, rushes up, strikes his pi ey, and immediately returns 
with it to his haunt ; he then ends it round, having gen- 
erally struck it crosswise, and swallows it. This he takes 
much longer to do than a trout, and the English works 
on fishing direct you to wait -five minutes or till he runs 
again, and then, by striking smartly, you can fix the 
hook into his gills or stomach, from which nothing but 
the knife will remove it. The disadvantage, however, is 
that the pickerel often eject instead of gorging the bait, 
and when the fisherman, having impatiently awaited his 
five minutes, comes to strike, he strikes naught but the 
thin water or the stem of a water lily. After a few such 
disgusting results, he will probably determine, as the 
writer has, to strike at once, unless, by one of those 
exceptional cases to all good rules, some peculiar diffi- 
culty forces him to proceed otherwise. The word spoon, 
that has been so frequently used, is derived from the use 
originally of the bowl of a pewter table-spoon, into one 
end of which was fastened three hooks, and into the other 
a swivel attached to the line, and which, by playing and 
flashing through the water, attracted the fish ; the old- 
fashioned spoon is now out of use, and entirely super- 
seded by Buel's patent. Pickerel, especially the smaller 
varieties, will take a fly, but not very readily ; and this 
can hardly be said to be an established mode of fishing 
for them. 

There is another style of pickerel fishing which is 
amusing, to say the least of it, and is practised exten- 
sively throughout the State of New York. You take a 

8* 



178 PICKEREL. 

small piece of flat board about nine inches across, and 
pass a stick through a hole bored in the centre so as to 
project above and below it ; the lower end is then loaded, 
and to the upper is attached a line of some twenty or 
thirty feet, that is baited with either a live or dead min- 
now. The line is coiled on one side of the wood, and 
leaving sufficient end for the bait to sink to a proper 
depth is fastened slightly in a slit cut in the wood like 
the thread of a spool. As many as you please to use 
are then placed in the pond and left to fish while you 
row about or otherwise employ yourself. If a pickerel 
takes the bait, the line is jerked out of the cleft, and 
uncoiling, allows him to carry off and pouch the bait, 
but when he undertakes to move away he is hooked 
by the resistance of the wood against the w T ater. The 
motion of the float can be seen from some distance, and 
it is quite interesting to chase one after another that go 
" bobbing around," as fish after fish is hooked. A plan 
somewhat similar to this is described by Walton and 
other writers, and it is merely a modification of an old 
invention. 

The best season for pickerel fishing is after the first of 
September, although they are taken at all times, includ- 
ing their spawning seasons of February, March and 
April, and are quite good, voracious and abundant in 
July and August. The English pike is reported to show 
an abstinence from food in Summer that our fish never 
exhibit, and, indeed, differs from ours in many particu- 
lars, and none more to his credit than his scarcity. In 
Summer our fish resort to the shallow water, as they are 
also said to do in their spawning season, and at both 



PICKEREL. 179 

times the j are shot or speared without mercy. In fact, 
the quick eye, ready hand and steady foot required for 
spearing renders it an exciting and reputable sport, 
worthy of, and often unattainable by, the best of us. In 
Winter, pickerel seek the warm, deep water, and are 
caught through a hole in the ice by a live bait on a hand 
line. This is said to be very exciting, provided a rude 
hut is built over the hole, and a lire made in the hut, 
and provided the fisherman, seated in a comfortable chair, 
provided with a book, a segar and a glass of hot punch, 
has an assistant to pull out the fish. It is alleged 
that these fish are, " during the height of the season," 
brilliant and beautiful ; if that is so with any, except the 
Long Island Pickerel and the Federation Pike, the height 
of the season must have been too high for me to reach. 

The family of the Esocidm are truly typified by the 
voracious and terrible Esox luceus, wolf-fish, the true 
pike, from which they take their name, and include 
among their numbers the formidable Gar-pike, Esox 
osseus of the Southern waters. Although their flesh is 
hardly fit for the table, they are universally abundant, 
and their capture affords that kind of plea'sure always 
derived from taking many and large animals of any 
description. 

The principal species known in this country are : 

The Mascallonge, Esox Estor. 

The Northern Pickerel, Esox Zuctoides, both of 
which inhabit the great rivers and lakes of the North. 

The Common Pickerel, Esox Reticulatus, of the mid 
die and northern States. 

The Long Island Pickerel, Esox Eaeciatus. 



180 PICKEREL. 

The White Pickerel, Esox Vittatus, of the West. 

The Black Pickerel, Esox Niger, of Pennsylvania 
and of Saratoga Lake, New York, which Dr. De Kay 
presumes to be only the young of the common pickerel. 

The Federation Pike, Esox Tredecem Radiatus, of 
the eastern States. 



THE GREAT NORTHERN PICKEREL. 181 



CHAPTEB XVI. 

THE GREAT NORTHERN PICKEREL. 

Esox Lucioides. — This fish is very similar to the mas- 
eallonge, so much so that it is not mentioned in most of 
the works on American Ichthyology, being confounded 
with the latter. The principal differences in appearance 
are, that the snout of the pickerel, the under jaw espe- 
cially, is shorter and more obtuse than that of the mas- 
callonge, the light tint of its sides is yellower, and it 
never attains over twenty-five pounds. The markings 
on the sides are somewhat different, the light, elongated 
spots of the pickerel, being occasionally replaced in the 
mascallonge by dark spots on a greyish ground, and the 
fin-rays are not so numerous. 

Dorsal 18 ; Pectoral 16 ; Ventral 10 ; Anal 15 and 
Caudal 24. 

Or, according to Professor Agassiz — 

D. 21 ; P. 16 ; Y. 11 ; A. 16 ; C. 17. 

The principal color is dark grey, lighter on the sides 
than on the back. 

These fish are caught in all the sluggish waters of the 
North, and on the same ground and at the same time with 
the mascallonge, and coincide with him entirely in habits 
and disposition. They exhibit the same ferocity, are 
allured by the same baits, entrapped in the same manner, 
and, in a culinary point of view are, if possible, inferior. 



182 THE COMMON PICKEREL. 



CHAPTEK XYII 



THE COMMON PICKEREL. 



Esox Reticulatus. — These fish, which are sometimes 
called by the learned, and none others, Pike, have on 
their sides a network of dark lines upon a yellowish 
ground, and are named by naturalists from this peculiar- 
ity. The lines are sometimes longitudinal, and but little 
reticulated. The fin-rays are — 

Dorsal 18 ; Pectoral 16 ; Yentral 10 ; Anal 14 ; Caudal 
19^. Or, according to Agassiz — 

D. 20 ; P. 16 ; Y. 10 ;A. 20 ; C. 18. 

This fish rarely exceeds ten pounds in weight, although 
he has been said to attain fifteen ; but in these instances 
has probably been confounded with the ."Northern Pick- 
erel. He abounds all through the northern States, and 
is emphatically the Pickerel, when the word is used 
without other qualification. The darker, more sluggish 
and weedy the water, the more he likes it ; old roots, 
decayed trees and a muddy bottom are his delight, and 
by his ferocity not a few ponds have been depopulated 
of superior fish. Among a certain class of fishermen he 
is a favorite, though utterly worthless for the table or as 
sport, and the little enterprise our farmers have shown 
has been in introducing this despicable fish into good 
waters, where, in consequence of his rapid increase and 



THE COMMON PICKEREL. 183 

voracious habits, he has soon exterminated all other varie- 
ties. Even excellent trout ponds have been treated in 
this way. 

The largest of these fish within my range of informa- 
tion, are taken in Long Pond, New Jersey, a large pond, 
originally a natural lake, and rendered more extensive 
by damming. The head-waters are filled with dead 
trees, amid the roots of which pickerel hide and thrive. 
There they are said to attain ten pounds, and often exceed 
five. Generally, however, five is the limit, and many 
more are taken that weigh not over three. These fish 
are not found in the waters of Canada, and are usually 
captured with live or dead bait, or a piece of pork, 
although in favorable water they would undoubtedly 
take the spoon, like their congeners of the north. Their 
habits are similar to those of the northern pickerel and 
mascallonge. 



184 FEDERATION PIKE. 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

FEDERATION PIKE. 

Esox Tredecem Badiatus. — This fish, simply so called 
because it has no name among fishermen and sportsmen, 
is almost unknown to naturalists. Dr. De Kay doubts 
its existence, and it is described alone by Dr. Mitchill. 
I take, therefore, much pleasure in adding my testimony, 
so far as it goes, to its existence, although after all it 
may be merely a northern or common pickerel so altered 
by a change of food and water as not to be recognizable. 
There were a large number taken in the Little Herring 
Pond, on Cape Cod near Agawam, and the secret of 
their existence being kept for years, we had excellent 
sport before the natives found it out, and with their 
spears and guns, fishing through the ice and killing them 
on the spawning-beds put a termination to their existence. 
A few may remain, and thus determine the question. 
We caught large numbers, taking them of ten pounds' 
weight, and readily killing in a few hours a hundred and 
twenty-five pounds. The fish were peculiarly beautiful 
in appearance, so much so that I made a rough outline 
which is now before me, and marked in the colors for 
the purpose of painting the picture of one. I afterward 
found the undertaking difficult, on account of the dissi- 
milarities of the common pickerel, which I purchased in 



FEDERATION PIKE. 185 

market and endeavored to use as a guide. The water 
of this pond was clear as crystal, and communicated with 
the ocean ; it was alive with herring, perch and other 
small fish, as thick as the gold leaf in a bottle of Eau de 
vie de Dantsic, and may have had a great effect upon 
the coloring and shape of the fish. At the time I was 
struck with their appearance, and examined all the works 
on icthyology at my command, but could find no satis- 
factory description. 

The head was that of the pickerel family ; of the teeth 
and fin-rays I remember nothing accurately ; the back 
was dark brownish green, growing greener on the sides, 
where it was interspersed with numerous lilac spots or 
scales, and shading off, as it descended on the sides, into 
light green with yellow scales ; then into yellow with 
brilliant silvery scales, terminated on the belly in the 
purest white. The dorsal fin and tail were dark green, 
the anal burnt sienna, the ventral yellow, with, I believe, 
the first ray reel, and the pectoral yellow and reddish. 
The back of the head was dark green, the gill-covers 
were partially covered with scales, the iris was yellow 
shot with pearl ; between the eye and the nostril there 
was a spot of lighter green ; the snout and tip of the 
under jaw were dark green ; adjoining on the under jaw 
was a warm lilac color, becoming purplish as it advanced 
toward the gill-cover. The lower part of the fore gill- 
ccver was of a pearly tint, deepening into purple as it 
ascended ; the gill-rays were a beautiful warm light 
mother of pearl, and behind them was a yellow tint. 
These colors were all exquisitely brilliant, and bid defi- 
ance to my palette. The sides were variegated with 



186 FEDERATION PIKE. 

irregular broken horizontal black lines, extending nearly 
to the tail, which was forked. Toward the belly these 
lines disappeared ; and the scales of the whole body 
were small and numerous. The depth was unusually 
large in proportion to the length, made greater probably 
by my drawing the outline round the fish as he lay 
on his side. I took three outlines ; but the best speci- 
men weighed six pounds and a half, and was twenty -four 
and a half inches long to the centre of the tail, and 
twenty-three to the root, by five and a half deep, the 
head having a length of seven and a half inches. 

These fish were not only remarkably beautiful, but 
were excellent on the table, and differed utterly in both 
particulars from all other pickerel. They were taken in 
Summer among the water lilies, with the belly of a yel- 
low perch or a piece of themselves, and surrounded as 
they were by the most delicious food, visible to our eyes 
in unlimited quantities, were naturally dainty. 

The above description accords wonderfully with that 
of Dr. Mitchill, and there can be no doubt that the fish 
are identical, although I did not count the fin-rays, which 
Dr. Mitchill gives at — 

Br. 13 ; D. 13 ; P. 13 ; Y. 9 ; A. 13 ; 0. 21. 



THE ^ONG ISLAND PICKEREL. 187 



CHAPTEK XIX. 

THE LONG ISLAND PICKEREL. 

Esox Fasciatus. — This fish has no name whatever in 
common parlance, and naturalists have clubbed him Va- 
ried Pickerel, Mackerel Pickerel, and other terms which 
are unknown except to their authors. He abounds on 
Long Island, although he is found elsewhere throughout 
the State, and probably the most appropriate name would 
be Banded Pickerel, as his- scientific appellation justly 
suggests. Yaried pickerel is appropriate to nothing, and 
mackerel pike to the scomber esox, another fish altoge- 
ther. This fish is distinguishable by having dark verti- 
cal bands upon his sides, and being altogether of a darker 
hue on the back than any other pickerel, while the pec- 
toral, ventral and anal fins are lighter colored and some- 
times reddish. A dark band passes from the eye to the 
angle of the jaw, and the fin-rays are — ■ 

D. 22 ; P. 16 ; Y. 10 ; A. 18 ; C. 18. Or, according 
to Dr. De Kay— 

D. 15; P. 15; V. 9; A. 14; C. 19f. 

This fish never exceeds one pound in weight, and one 
foot in length ; and although endowed with all the fero- 
city of his family, does not apparently injure the trout 
ponds of Long Island, where he has a local habitation 
and a name. Probably he cannot destroy the larger fish, 



188 THE L0NG ISLAND PICKEREL. 

and the young fry do not live where he resorts. It is 
not from want of will but of power that he is harmless, 
for he will take a small fly with the same ravenous eager- 
ness that the mascallonge exhibits in seizing the deadly 
spoon. He is fat and free from bones, and not a bad 
pan fish, and in these particulars, as well as in habits 
and appearance, he sets his big brothers a good 
example. 



THE THOUSAND ISLES. 189 



CHAPTER XX. 



THE THOUSAND ISLES. 



At the upper edge of the State of New York, where 
civilization terminates and Canada begins, a mighty 
river, the outlet of a hundred lakes and thousand streams, 
flows amid innumerable islands in a fierce current 
toward the sea. It bears upon its broad bosom in im- 
mense rafts the wealth of the forests of the Northwest. 
Enormous quantities of timber, collected from all its 
tributaries, even from the region around Lake Superior, 
are brought in large vessels, mostly three-masted schoon- 
ers, to the head-waters of this stream, and there, at Cape 
Vincent or its neighborhood, are bound together into 
rafts, preparatory to descending the rapids. These rafts 
cover acres in extent, and sometimes have as many as 
fifty shanties built upon them to accommodate one hun- 
dred men for months, or until they shall reach Quebec or 
Montreal. Launched upon their journey, they are car- 
ried along by the current, and by sails when the wind 
is favorable, and even without the latter, moving as they 
do by the force of gravity faster than the stream, can be 
steered to some extent. Rough oars are fastened on the 
fore and after part, by a vigorous use of which the raft 
can be kept from danger and retained in the middle of 
the stream. They press on with resistless force, some- 



TOO THE THOUSAND ISLES. 

times passing entirely over projecting rocks or small 
islands, and in one instance carrying off a lighthouse 
that had been located near their path. One end often 
rims far on shore, when the other swings round and drags 
it off; vessels of all kinds keep clear of them, if possible. 
They are bound together with withes made by twisting 
saplings, and so strongly that they rarely give way when 
rushing over rocks or descending rapids that are almost 
cataracts. Sometimes they are composed of logs, some- 
times of rough staves. The latter are bound together in 
cribs, and instead of three drams making one crib, as is 
common in New York, three cribs make a dram ; and the 
wood measure of the North may be said to be 
1000 Staves make one Crib ; 
3 Cribs make one Dram ; 
20 Drams make one Raft. 
And no one has any scruples whatever, for the country 
being poverty itself, the people are neither elevated nor 
moral, and eke out a scanty subsistence by rafting and 
fishing. 

The people use for fishing, boats on the plan of a small 
whaleboat, built of thin cedar, and the surprise of my 
companions upon their first visit to this desolate region, 
was by no means small on discovering that they were 
expected to fish with three lines at once, holding one in 
their hand and having a rod projecting from each side 
of the boat in addition. We had arrived the evening 
before at Clayton, and, like true knights, finding there 
was to be a ball given by the natives, had attended it, 
and danced till the wee hours, with pretty little bright- 
eyed girls, strange dances called by Indian names, among 



THE THOUSAND ISLES. 191 

which the most remarkable was Money must. It was in 
the latter part of July, and the day after the ball being 
bright and beautiful, with a southwesterly breeze, we each 
selected our boatman — for only one fisherman can go in 
each boat — and started for a day's sport among the mas- 
callonge and pickerel. We separated at once, some going 
up-stream, others across by Powder-horn and Shot-bag 
Islands, while I kept down along shore and ran into the 
bay behind the old mill. 

I had on the line of my right-hand rod a Buel's patent 
spoon, tin on the outside and red on the inside, bright- 
ened, by being rubbed with pumice stone, till it shone 
like burnished silver, and, with red ibis feathers wound 
round the treble hook, it glanced and sparkled through 
the water, visible at a great distance. On the left-hand 
rod the spoon was copper on the inside, and the hook*, 
were wound with scarlet flannel, while that in my hand 
line had copper on the outside, brightly polished, but 
neither feathers nor flannel round the hooks. We passed 
down from the outer point of the island toward the 
lower part of the bay without success, but when return- 
ing inside, my right-hand rod suddenly bent, and the 
line slowly unwound from the reel, over which I had 
taken a couple of turns to prevent its rendering too 
rapidly ; dropping the hand-line, which was made fast to 
the seat, I seized the rod, and turning it round and reach- 
ing my line, commenced to draw it in as lightly and 
delicately, but steadily as possible, just holding it 
between the tips of my fingers. The fish was large, and 
when he was about half-way in, having come thus far 
with no other object; ons than a few violent flounces, he 



192 THE THOUSAND ISLES. 

made a fierce rush ; instantly the line slipped with a 
stead/ but slight strain through my fin ers, and he dashed 
off for some distance, but soon tired, he allowed me to 
pull him up to the side of the boat ; once there, grasping 
the wire above the hook, I lifted him quickly over the 
side and threw him on the bottom, where he flounced 
about vigorously and with energy enough, if exhibited 
sooner, to have broken almost any line. Taking the 
hook carefully by the shank, I twisted it out of his 
mouth, and weighing him with the scales that were 
always in my pocket, found he weighed ten pounds. 

Turning at the head of the little cove, we retraced 
our path and struck another fish, and so over and over 
again, some of them making violent but unavailing efforts 
to escape, others slapping off just as they were being 
lifted into the boat, others again coming in with their 
heads out of water like a yawl towed behind a steamboat. 
Sometimes it was the right-hand rod that bent, some- 
times the left, then the hand-line felt the strain — often 
two and sometimes all three at once ; it kept me busy, 
to say the least of it. The reels were of little use, as the 
boatman had to keep rowing to prevent the lines sinking 
to the bottom and catching in the weeds, which, in spite 
of all precautions they sometimes succeeded in doing, 
and the strain was consequently too great for them. 
The bottom of the boat was filled with the long-bodied, 
wolfish and ravenous devils, that snapped their jaws, 
struggled about, their eyes gleaming with impotent fury 
and merciless cruelty, as ugly looking a set as the sun 
ever shone upon ; but as they were brought in, one after 
another, my oarsman was delighted. 



THE THOUSAND ISLES. 193 

"We remained on the same spot, rowing round until 
satisfied we should get no more, when we headed over 
toward the Canadian shore, into the far-famed region of 
Eel Bay. The latter takes its name from a fly that is 
found in the fore part of July in immense numbers on 
the waters of this region. It appears to one who has 
small claims as an entomologist to be the May-fly or 
famous Green and Grey Drake of England. Some that 
I pressed and brought to the city were recognized at 
once by the English fly-makers, who were delighted to 
see an old friend, and made a number of them for me 
after the pattern, saying that there was but a shade of 
color between them and what they had so often pre- 
pared as the May-fly at home. These flies appear in 
myriads ; when the wind is northerly, the waves will 
cover the dock at Cape Vincent with them several inches 
thick. Their body is long and so heavy that in the early 
morning, when their wings are damp with the dew, they 
cannot rise to fly and are readily picked up by their 
wings, which project invitingly above their backs. Eel 
Bay is named from the immense quantities of these flies 
that appear there ; they constitute the principal food of 
the fish from vdiich they derive their name, as well as 
of the cisco, black and rock bass, chubs, and probably 
many others. They rise with difficulty from the water, 
and fly heavily and slowly. 

Our course carried us across the rapid current of the 
St. Lawrence, where my boatman was glad to have me 
haul in my lines, that dragged heavily, as there was no 
chance of taking fish. We were soon in the bay, an 
extensive reach formed by a bend in the St. Lawrence, 

9 



194 THE THOUSAND ISLSES. 

lying upon one side, out of the force of the current, and 
filled with innumerable islands. It probably holds within 
itself a thousand isles. They are of all kinds, shape, 
form and appearance, some half a mile in extent, consti- 
tuting a cultivated farm, others a bare rock scarcely pro- 
jecting above the surface, some covered with a dense 
foliage, others furnishing a single tree, and many bare 
of tree, bush or grass. There is immense variety of 
appearance, but all are inconceivably picturesque. None 
are very high, but at times the rocks run straight up 
like a wall of stone, while others are long, low and flat, 
They are clustered together, often affording barely 
room for the boat to pass, and offer to the eye every 
variety of shape and foliage. Amid them we now wan 
dered, admiring their bewitching beauty as they lay 
basking in the broad sunlight upon the calm bosom of 
the river. Seldom are they inhabited, and most of the 
primeval forest trees having been cut, they have grown 
up with a dense underwood, occasionally relieved by 
some tall monarch of the forest that has survived the 
fury of man. 

Keeping close along under the overhanging tree or 
rock, or passing into the open water with ever-changing 
scenery, we drew from the " vasty deep," where the 
long pickerel weed could be seen reaching up toward 
the surface, one after another of those savage monsters, 
the Great Northern Pickerel. Without catching any- 
thing of wonderful size, we had taken an unusual num- 
ber, when the calls of hunger warned us that the hours 
were fleeting faster than Ave thought. 

Landing at the point of an island where there was a 



THE THOUSAND ISLES. 195 

beautiful natural grove, we set to work to build a Hie and 
prepare our fish for dinner. The pleasantest arrange- 
ment connected with this fishing is that each boat is 
provided with a basket of good cold fare, a frying-pan 
and the necessary means of cooking ; and in the middle 
of the day it is customary for several to meet at an 
appointed island, and for the fishermen to have a jolly 
dinner. Although we were first to arrive, our com 
panions were not long behind us, and the best fish, 
especially the black bass, were selected, cleaned, split 
open, and fried in the grease tried out of a few pieces of 
salt pork. Our provisions were combined and made 
quite a handsome picnic set-out, rendered more accept- 
able to our sharpened appetite by a few glasses of iced 
champagne. Of course we had our stories to tell : how 
skillfully we had landed this fish, or how unfortunately 
we had lost that; and one man, who had struck and 
almost landed a mascallonge, was agitated with mingled 
happiness and despondency. The days were long, our 
boatmen had had a hard tug of it, the shade was grateful, 
the champagne refreshing, our cigars excellent, and con- 
sequently no one was hurried. The wind, however, kept 
increasing, and after a couple of hours, pleasantly passed, 
we once more embarked and bid each other farewell till 
night. 

My boatman struck well in toward the Canadian shore ; 
but although we crossed places where he had had won- 
derful success on many a previous occasion, and of which 
there were extraordinary stories of mascallonge, our 
luck had deserted us. However, perseverance was re- 
warded ; suddenly my hand-line was taughtened as 



196 THE THOUSAND ISLES. 

though it had struck a log ; for a momeut it was still, 
then I felt the motion of the fish. The boatman instantly 
dropped his oars and reeled in as quickly as possible the 
other lines— just in time ; for the fish, feeling he was 
caught, made one rush directly toward us. I drew in the 
line hand over hand, to have something to give out when 
he should make away again, but not nearly so fast as he 
moved. He passed close to us ; we could see the broad 
back, the long nose, the fierce eye, the mighty length of 
the mascallonge. 

" Turn the boat broadside toward him," I whispered as 
he passed. 

Away he went, the slack of the line hissed through the 
water as his increasing distance took it up, and partially 
deadened his way as he reached the end of it and came 
against the light though steady strain with which I held 
it. Giving to him, at first readily then more sparingly, 
I- again turned him ; this time he did not approach so 
near, but swung round well in-shore. Then, with a sud- 
den rush, he came straight on, and flashed directly 
beneath the bottom of the boat. If the line once touched 
the rough surface, or caught in a splinter of the wood, 
we knew it would part like pack-thread. The oarsman 
tried to swing her round ; there was no time ; hastily 
gathering a few coils, I threw them into the water at the 
stern, and passing the line over my head, anxiously 
watched them sink. Suddenly they were taken up, the 
line in my hand taughtened and lifted out of water ; it 
had not caught, and that danger was past. The strug- 
gle lasted long ; again and again he darted away ; once 
he nearly exhausted my line, and compelled me to use 



THE THOUSAND ISLES. 197 

considerable force, but generally I held the least possi- 
ble strain on him. Finally, he made one grand rush, was 
foiled, allowed himself to be drawn alongside, and was 
neatly gaffed by the boatman. 

He was an immense fish, a triton even among pickerel 
of ten pounds. Beauty he certainly did not possess, but 
grandeur and ferocity marked every lineament His 
huge head, immense jaws, and terrible teeth, his long, 
narrow body, large fins, and broad tail, and above all, his 
fierce, gleaming, savage eye, marked him as the undis- 
puted master of the fresh waters. His enormous size and 
prodigious strength, the latter exemplified by his nearly 
sjDringing over the gunwale, indicated that he had no 
match even in our extensive lakes, while his merciless 
ferocity, that would spare neither large nor small, friend 
nor foe, was but too apparent. His weight, as afterward 
ascertained, was thirty-five pounds, and his length was 
excessive proportionally to other fish. Although, he 
fought well, he had not exhibited in the water the vigor 
he did out of it. Now that his fate was sealed, he lashed 
about, struggled and flounced as though his capture had 
just commenced, and scarcely showed an intimation of 
approaching death or surrender. It appears to be a 
peculiarity of the pickerel family that they exhibit their 
courage and strength too late, waiting till they are man- 
acled before they fairly rouse themselves to the emer- 
gency. Their efforts consequently afford little pleasure 
to the sportsman or profit to themselves. 

Having captured the master spirit of the stream, we 
did not wish any of his smaller brethren, and while he 
was dying we wound up the hand- line and removed the 



L9S THE THOUSAND ISLES. 

spinning tackle from the others. I then took out a 
twelve-foot salmon leader, or casting-line, as our friends 
across the water express it, and fastened on it, at equal 
distances, five large flies, the upper dropper and tail-flies 
being dressed with white and ibis feathers mixed on a 
large sized salmon hook, while the intermediate ones were 
small, dark colored salmon flies. This leader, thus 
equipped, being fastened to one line, and a similar one, 
except that a small, gay spoon replaced the tail-fly, to 
the other, they were trolled thirty or forty yards astern, 
so that they sank well as we moved slowly along. Then, 
leaving the quiet bays, with their sluggish current and 
weedy bottom, we struck out boldly into the rapid water 
and sought the rocky shoals where black bass love to 
hide and wait. 

The wind had increased till there was quite a sea, and 
it was difficult to manage the boat; but that was soon 
forgotten in the excitement. The fish were numerous and 
in excellent disposition ; every shoal we crossed furnished 
us with several ; we often took two or three at a time, 
and occasionally had both lines engaged at once. They 
were brave, vigorous and determined ; madly they darted 
forward on feeling the hook, and threw themselves high 
out of w T ater to shake it from their mouths ; finding that 
vain, they made rush after rush to escape, again and 
again they leaped in the air, resolute and courageous to 
the last ; not till they were in the net would they sur- 
render. 

Strange it was to note the different shades of their 
colors. Their deep sides, for they are an awkward-looking 
fish, and their shape gives little indication of their 



THE THOUSAND ISLES. 199 

strength, were, in some, of that dark green, almost black, 
from which their name is derived; in others it was a 
light green, and again in others pale yellow. Whence 
these variations are derived, unless it be from the shade 
of the ground they live on, to which all fish are said to 
assimilate, is not known ; but it has often led to their 
being divided into distinct classes, or mistaken for other 
species. Their peculiarity of springing out of water is 
remarkable. Salmon and blue-fish do so frequently, 
trout rarely, and other fish seldom or never ; but a black 
bass of any size will invariably make one or more des- 
j.^rate leaps. It is a glorious sight to see his full length 
above the water, and a nervous moment till the line that 
has been slacked is again taughtened by his strain. Such 
leaps are his most effective means of escape, by enabling 
him to shake the hook from his mouth or strike the line 
with his tail ; and though not so persevering as the trout, 
generally, at the sight of the net, he makes a final, dan- 
gerous rush. 

We coasted along by island after island, crossing near 
one named after "Old Bill Johnston," memorable for 
having taken an active part in the Canadian rebellion, 
and long forced to hide from his English pursuers. 
Johnston's Island, as it is called, was his favorite resort, 
where he was succored and warned of danger by his 
beautiful daughter, universally known as the Queen of 
the Isles. What a theme for the poet or the novelist 
the father safe neither on the English shore, where he 
had waged unjustifiable war, nor among the Americans, 
who would have been compelled to surrender him, lurk- 
ing among those beautiful isles, then wilder and more 



200 THE THOUSAND ISLE& 

densely wooded than now, trusting for his support to his 
rod and line — for he rarely dared to use his rifle — and to 
the scanty supplies brought by his daughter ; the latter 
residing on shore watching for any expedition that 
might be fitted out against him, and at the first intima- 
tion darting off in her light canoe in spite of rain or 
storm, in the daylight or impenetrable darkness, and 
arriving at her retreat, perhaps just in time to warn him 
of his danger and enable him to escape. Imagine the 
woman's ready wit, ever at work, ever on the watch for 
him; imagine the father's joy on seeing her amid his 
trying and wearisome solitude, and her anxiety till he 
is once more out of danger. The thought that such 
things had really happened so near to where we then 
were, added to our excitement, and was only dissipated 
on passing Whisky Island, which is in dangerous prox- 
imity to the former. 

Our boat was headed down-stream and driven betore 
the strong wind ; we moved rapidly with varying sue 
cess till we arrived at one little shoal, the name of which 
I have forgotten, or it never existed, and where we found 
fish innumerable. Frequently every hook on both 
lines was engaged ; often I landed three, sometimes four, 
and once or twice five fish at a time. The sport was 
wonderfully exciting ; first one rod bent, then the other ; 
and then, while I was busy foiling the struggles of fish 
bo numerous that they made the water foam, I would see 
with a feeling of despair the other rod bend and the line 
slowly render round the reel. It was impossible to move 
faster, useless to hurry ; but, as quickly as I could and 
dared, the fish were brought to net. This shoal was 



THE THOUSAND ISLES. 201 

exposed to the full fury of the wind, and the water 
dashed in over the bow or broke against the side, while 
the oarsman had all he could manage to row against the 
blast. 

Round and round this spot we moved, ever with the 
same result; the lines were not half out before they 
would be seized, it was almost impossible to keep the two 
rods in play. This lasted till we were both utterly worn 
out with the excitement and the exertion, and were com- 
pelled to give up from sheer exhaustion. My fingers had 
many a bloody mark left by the reel-handle, that a sudden 
rush had jerked from my grasp, and being compelled in 
the uncomfortable seat to turn my body round to reel up, 
my back was almost broken. The man had rowed as 
long as he could, but was forced to run down between 
the Powder-horn and Shot-bag Islands and rest awhile 
before breasting the storm homeward. 

We had had great luck, taking in the last hour and a 
half seventy-three bass. It was a glorious sight when 
we arrived at home to see our fish laid out side by side, 
the mascallonge at their head, and tapering regularly 
down to a half-pound black bass. The latter do not 
average any great size, rarely exceeding three pounds 
and never known to be taken over six ; but a day upon 
the St. Lawrence among those beautiful Thousand 
Isles, either in pursuit of the mighty mascallonge 
the furious pickerel, or, best of all, the spirited Black 
bass, will never be regretted by the poet or the sports 
man. 



202 STRIPED BASS. 



CHAPTER XXI. 

STRIPED BASS. 

Labrax Lineatus — Rock-fish of Pennsylvania and tht 
South — Perca Labrax (Smith) — Selena Lineata (Black.) 

This fish, which has a large number of scientific names 
and several popular ones, belongs to the Perch family, 
has two spines on the after part of the gill-cover, and the 
margin of the fore gill-cover rough like the edge of a 
saw. Its color is bluish on the back, light on the sides, 
and white on the belly. The sides are marked by seven 
to nine longitudinal dark lines, from which its name is 
derived, the upper of which reach the tail, but the lower 
fade out above the anal fin. These lines sometimes are 
broken or consist of contiguous dots. The ventral fins 
are below and somewhat behind the pectorals, and have 
the first rays spinous. The fore part of the dorsal has 
nine spiny rays, and at the interval between that and the 
after part there is another small hard ray, while the after 
part is composed of twelve soft rays. The pectorals 
have sixteen soft rays, the ventrals one hard and five 
soft, the anal three hard and eleven soft, and the tail 
seventeen soft rays. 

"Whether the name Bass means Perch or not, I cannot 
say, although there is no such tradition among my 
Dutch ancestry, and I am unable to find the word in 



STRIPED BASS. 203 

their Dutch dictionaries. There could, however, be nc 
more creditable derivation, and as many authorities 
assert the fact, it is as well to let it pass. The fish are 
found along the coast from Maine to Florida, although 
they appear never to have visited Europe, and are the 
gamest salt water fish of our continent. In their season, 
which is at intervals from early Spring to late in Fall, 
they are taken on the bars and in every creek of our ex- 
tensive coast. The net destroys the greater number, but 
they bite freely and fight bravely for their lives. Great 
skill and experience are requisite for their successful 
capture when they are shy and scarce, but when abun- 
dant or hungry, although always a dainty fish, they bite 
rapidly and boldly. Like the squid of the deep seas, 
these may be said to be the largest and smallest of fish ; 
they are taken from an ounce to a hundred pounds' 
weight. 

The Striped Bass becomes an object of the angler's 
attention in April, when he runs up the rivers to spawn. 
He ascends into cool fresh water, until arrested by a 
natural, or, too frequently, an artificial barrier. He is 
taken under the Cohoes Falls in the Mohawk, and at Al- 
bany and Troy in the Hudson, and reaches the very 
head-waters of the Delaware, where he is known as Rock- 
fish. Many, and those the largest, do not appear to 
leave the salt water, and are found in the small bays and 
inlets. In the fall, when the cold weather sets in, they 
retire to the salt water coves and lagoons, where they lie 
imbedded in the mud or hiding near the bottom, secure 
against danger, or discomfort from cold or storms. Ad- 
vantage is taken of this peculiarity by the market fish 



204 STRIPED BASS. 

ermen, and there is a pond on Long Island, near Sag 
Harbor, and others near Point Judith, that are a source 
of great profit to their owners. The mill-pond at Stam- 
ford having carried away the gates one "Winter, and run 
out nearly dry, striped bass of immense size were picked 
up by cart-loads from the muddy bottom. 

These fish can be confined to fresh water without 
being permitted to visit the sea, and they will not onh 
live and breed, but are said to be much improved by 
the change. In September they appear on the coast in 
shoals, and are taken both inside and outside of the bars, 
and in the bays and inlets where they resort for food. 
As they are much sought after and highly appreciated, 
and as I have added largely to my own knowledge by 
drawing extensively upon the experience of my friends, 
the following description of the numerous modes of tak- 
ing them will be found rather minute. 

When they first appear in April the shad are running, 
and hence, in the rivers that the latter frequent, shad roe 
is the best though most troublesome of all baits. In 
places where shad are not to be found, the bass are sus- 
picious of such bait. As it is most difficult to fasten on 
the hook, it must be cut with the skin that envelops it, 
and tied on with tow, flax, or floss silk. Stonehenge, 
after eloquently defending the use of the salmon roe as 
a bait, which is ordinarily considered a kind of poaching, 
gives for its preparation the following directions, that 
apply equally well to the shad roe : Boil the roe without 
its envelope for twenty minutes ; bruise it in a mortar to 
a uniform consistency ; add to each pound an ounce of 
common salt and a quarter of an ounce of saltpeter ; 



STRIPED BASS. 205 

beat tliem together and store it an earthen jar covered 
with a bladder. Frank Forrester recommends that the 
roe be well washed and thoroughly dried in the air, 
salted with two ounces of rock salt and a quarter of an 
ounce of saltpeter to a pound of spawn, dried gently and 
potted down, covered with melted lard or suet in earthen 
jars. This, either fresh or potted, is a most effective 
bait for striped bass, but I confess for trout my experi- 
ence is to the contrary. 

In streams that the shad do not frequent, striped 
bass are taken early in the season with shrimp threaded 
on longitudinally, by passing the point of the hook 
under the back plates ; as the season advances, and 
crabs shed their coats, with the shedder, or better, 
soft crabs ; and in the Fall with shrimp, the bass, or 
barred killey, and the spearing. In fishing with shrimp 
— and it is a good bait all the season through, and must be 
tried when others fail — use a float fastened about three 
feet above a swivel sinker, to the lower swivel of which 
are to be attached two distinct gut leaders, one of three 
feet, the other of two. Single gut, if large, round, and 
true, is decidedly preferable to double, and the hook 
should never be a coarse, clumsy Limerick, which has 
such an undeserved reputation, but a delicate Carlisle, 
with a broad, round bend. If very large fish are ex- 
pected — and they rarely are — use No. ; but gener- 
ally No. 3 is large enough. With crab the hook must 
be larger. I prefer always to have the point of the hook 
covered, and recommend that the shrimp should be 
bunched on till they hide the hook entirely, and form a 
round, attractive bait, composed of so many shrimp as 
no bass ever before saw together. 



206 STRIPED BASS. 

Iii June, and throughout the Summer, the crab is a 
better bait ordinarily than the shrimp. I prefer the soft 
crab, because it does not dull the point of the hook, as 
will sometimes happen with a shedder that is not quite 
ripe ; it is easily cut up into proper baits, whereas the 
shedder has to be skinned, or, more properly, shelled — 
a long and nasty operation • it is always in good order 
whereas others, unless carefully selected, and kept just the 
right time, will tear to pieces in the course of preparation ; 
and finally, the skin of the soft crab, especially as it 
verges toward the buckram, enables the hook to retain 
its hold. Judging from human nature, I fancy the fish 
must prefer a nice, soft, plump bait, to one that is jagged 
and half full of pieces of shell. 

Most writers say, fish with crab on the bottom, be- 
cause there it is naturally found ; I say, fish with it near 
the top, because no sensible fish can imagine that a quar- 
ter of a crab long since dead and dismembered has any 
control over its own motions. In fact there is no unbend- 
ing rule for fishing ; the only way is to try all plans, 
and if the fish will not notice your crab suspended in 
mid-water, take off your float and swivel sinker, put on 
a running sinker, as it is called, made like a piece of 
lead pipe with a small hole in the centre, tie a knot in 
the line to prevent its going down on the hook ; use a 
single bait of a good-sized piece of crab and cast well 
out from you, and the first eel that comes along will 
astonish, not to say disgust you. The line being free, 
though the lead lies on the bottom, you can feel the 
first touch of a fish, and strike at once ; whereas if the 
sinker were the old-fashioned deep sea lead he would 
have to dras its weight some distance before the fisher- 



STRIPED BASS. 207 

man would be aware of bis proceedings. A man, by 
fishing on tbe bottom, although justified by a philosophy 
which establishes the fact that bass ought to look for 
crabs there, and not dangling about in mid-water, will 
surely catch three eels to one bass. The truth is, crabs 
are not found on the bottom in such places, generally 
strong foaming currents, which they never frequent un- 
less carried away by the force of the water, and soft 
crabs are by their natural enemies, and many other 
causes, often torn into pieces and borne about by the 
tide. 

The bait should be kept in continual motion : this is 
the first law of all bait fishing. It is done by twitching 
the rod, and induces the fish to seize the prey, which they 
imagine is about to escape. I have seen them time and 
again dart at a bait when in motion, that they had 
smelt round contemptuously when still. Crab is uni- 
versally regarded as the preeminent bass bait in Summer, 
although its reputation is disputed by that wonderful 
production of the sea, the squid. This horrible monster, of 
which sailors tell such astounding stories, has illuminated 
the tales of olden time, and been a pet forecastle yarn 
with ancient and modern mariners. There are accounts 
of ships seized by its arms, that reached to the mast- 
heads, and sunk or only saved by prayers to the Virgin 
Mary and the vigorous use of axes on its many muscular 
and boneless limbs ; of grateful mariners presenting pic- 
tures of the dreadful encounter to the shrine of Our 
Lady ; of huge pieces of the arms of this fish, indicating 
that they must have been sixty or more feet long, found 
in the maw of the whale, whose food they are ; and hor 



208 STRIPED BASS. 

rible stories whispered with bated breath, of men in 
bathing drawn down by even the smaller of the monsters. 
Though there must be something in it, I doubt if this is all 
true, notwithstanding the squid is ugly enough for any- 
thing. With us the squid or cuttle-fish is harmless except 
to the sight, and in his native element is glad to hide him- 
self in the obscurity of a dark liquid that he has the power 
of emitting, when pursued. The only bone in his body is 
in the middle of his stomach, and what it is put there 
for unless to give him an accurate idea of indigestion, no 
one knows. For the present it is enough to say he is 
good bait, although not handsome, and may be used 
either in trolling or still fishing. 

Another excellent bait early in the Fall, although no- 
where mentioned in the books, and, I believe, my own 
discovery, is the scollop. My attention was first called to 
it by some men opening them for the table and throwing 
the many-eyed skins into the water. The bass collected 
at once and rushed eagerly to the very dock, almost 
springing out of water to seize the coveted morsel. 
Upon this hint I acted, and by great care, for the scol- 
lop is extremely tender, and by passing the hook several 
times through the skin, I succeeded in keeping the bait 
on while I cast very gently. My success was astonish- 
ing, and then and afterward I took the largest fish 
under the most unfavorable circumstances with it, when 
they would not touch the most tempting crab. The 
heart of the scollop is pearly white, and is attractive and 
so good that no wonder the bass should be crazy for it. 
It is difficult to manage and easily washed off the hook, 
but if any fisherman shall see bass, as I have often, lying 



STRIPED x*ASS. 209 

in a deep pool, occasionally leaping out or sluggishly 
showing their back fins on the surface and refusing all 
allurements, let him try scollops, and he will think of 
me in his dying hour. 

As the days grow colder and the crab reassumes his 
impenetrable coat and dangerous pincers, shrimp again 
come into play, and on many occasions the belly of the 
white soft clam will attract the bass even earlier in the 
season. But in August I have had excellent sport cast- 
ing, if I may use the word, for him with the spearing. 
Early in Summer a delicate little fish an inch or two 
long, pearly white and semi-transparent, with a black 
eye and a white band along the lateral line, makes its 
appearance on the shores of Long Island Sound and else- 
where, and has come to be called the spearing. It is 
a beautiful fish, and properly dressed might rival in 
delicacy the far-famed English white-bait ; but it is never 
brought to market till later in the season, when it has 
grown several inches long and is comparatively tasteless. 
Being too small in the early summer to take a hook, 
they are difficult to catch ; but an excellent net, both for 
them and killey-fish, can be made of mosquito netting 
stretched double between two hoop-poles, with a stout 
cord run along the top and bottom to receive the leads 
and floats respectively. The netting being of extra 
width, can be doubled together with the lead line laid in 
the bag, or, as sailors would say of a rope, in the bight, 
and the leads being small pipe, fastened at short intervals, 
will keep the net close to the bottom — an important par- 
ticular. It should be five to six yards long; and two 
men, taking each a handle, can sweep a considerable part 



210 STRIPED BASS. 

of the shore, and often fill a pail with minnows or spear 
ing at one haul. 

The killey-fish, so called by our ancestors from being 
caught in the kills or creeks, and which, by the by, are 
at least of three kinds without counting sticklebacks, 
will rush about and try to creep under the net ; but spear- 
ing, which always go in shoals, when once in the net do 
not seem to be able to escape, and will stay there as long 
as it is kept in motion. ~No fisherman living near the 
water should be without this contrivance, as nothing is 
so annoying as to be unable to get bait ; he will soon 
acquire considerable skill in its use, and if he is as boy- 
ish as a fisherman ought always, though grey-headed, to 
be, he will experience much excitement in the pursuit 
even of his bait. If spearing cannot be had, though 
that is rare, the barred killey, vulgarly called the bass 
killey, is the next in beauty and attractiveness ; it is the 
Fundulus fasciatuS) or striped killey-fish of De Kay, 
and if it cannot be had, the ugly green killey-fish, Fun- 
dulus viridescens, may be used, but with doubtful suc- 
cess. 

To cast with spearing in the manner here suggested 
successfully, a stout long salmon rod will be requisite. 
A small hook is run through the spearing's mouth and 
out at his side, for he is long since dead, and a cast is 
made into the foaming torrent of a mill-tail or rushing 
tide. The bait is drawn irregularly over the surface of 
the water, and again cast and played like the fly. The 
bass strike it as trout or salmon take the latter ; and 
there is the same skill and uncertainty in the pursuit. 

I was once fishing in this manner for snapping mack- 



STRIPED BASS. 213 

erel, the young of the blue-fish, Temnodon saltatoi\ with 
single gut half worn through, and the lightest tackle. 
I had been quite successful, much to the disgust of older 
men who were fishing in the usual manner with live 
killey and no luck, and finally made a cast right among 
a number of their floats; Suddenly, from the turbid 
depths, shot a huge bass, gleamed for a moment in the 
sunlight, and disappeared beneath the surface carrying 
my spearing in his mouth. It was a splendid fish, and 
my skill was tried to the utmost ; many a run I was 
forced to give to, and only the great length of line I had 
on the reel saved him ; after a good half hour's excellent 
sport I brought him to the net, and my companions were 
still more disgusted at their want of luck. I again made 
a few casts, catching several snappers, when another 
bass, full as large as the first, struck me and was landed 
after an equally spirited contest. This was early in Sep- 
tember, and before the fish were taken by trolling in 
that neighborhood. 

In June and October, bass of great size are captured 
off Point Judith with half a mossbunker, otherwise men- 
haden, hard-head or bony-fish, the Alosa menhaden^ 
thrown from the rocks by rod or hand into the surf. The 
bait is ordinarily tied on the hook, which is large, and 
thrown without float or sinker as far into the sea as its 
weight will enable the fisherman to cast, and then slowly 
reeled or drawn in. Similar fishing is pursued at New- 
port, and bass are frequently taken of over forty pounds. 

A favorite mode of catching these fish is by trolling 
from a boat either with rod and line or hand-line and 
with the natural squid, or the imitation made of pewter, 



212 STRIPED BASS. 

tin or bone. In this mode very large fish were once 
taken at Hell Gate, but the glory thereof has departed. 
Where squid cannot be obtained, the large spearing or 
barred killey will answer well. 

ITiere is this redeeming quality about taking striped 
bass with the float and sinker, that the fishing generally 
being done in a rapid, and at times, boisterous current, 
the bait has to be kept in motion, and it is necessary to 
reel in and cast out every few minutes. As great skill 
in casting can be obtained, and there is an immense 
advantage in throwing into the exact spot, it is truly a 
sportsmanlike mode of procedure. A good fisherman 
can cast thirty to forty yards, or even more, into the size 
of a hat, without tangling the line or jerking the bait, 
while the tyro will generally fail reaching half the dis- 
tance, and will frequently leave his baits on the way. I 
can cast better and further from the left side, and have 
heard many old fishermen say the same, but you must be 
able to use the rod on either side. 

As there are persons so ignorant as not to know how 
to cast at all, and as I once found one stopping his reel 
with his first finger, I will say that to make a cast the 
line is reeled up till the float touches the tip, or in 
case no float is used, till the bait is within a foot of it, 
the right hand grasps the rod at the reel, which is turned 
up, and the thumb placed upon it to regulate the escape 
of the line ; the left hand is near the but ; the point of the 
rod is then carried back behind the fisherman, and witn 
a steady, springy motion is suddenly brought forward 
and the line delivered. A jerk, or the fouling of the line, 
which will surely happen if it is allowed to overrun, will 



STRIPED BASS. 213 

certainly tear off your baits, and perhaps your float and 
sinker ; the sinker must strike the water in advance of 
the float, or the leader is apt to hitch round the upper 
point of the latter. 

The most scientific and truly sportsmanlike mode of 
taking striped bass must be admitted to be with the fly ; 
which, unfortunately, can only be done in the brackish 
or fresh water. Like salmon, they will not take the fly 
in the salt creeks and bays, and thus, though the sport is 
excellent, it is confined to few localities, and those diffi- 
cult of access. Fly-fishing may be clone either with the 
ordinary salmon rod, or in a strong current with the 
common bass rod, by working your fly on the top of the 
water and giving a considerable length of line. The 
best fly is that with the scarlet ibis and white feathers 
mixed, the same as used for black bass ; but bass may 
be taken with any large fly, especially those of gay color. 
Excellent sport is frequently had in this way from off 
some open bridge, where the falling tide, mixed with the 
fresh water, rushes furiously between the piers. 

It is generally conceded that the best time for bass 
fishing is at night, especially if the moon be bright. 
The most favorable wind is a southwesterly one, strong 
enough to make a good ripple on the water, and the 
right time of tide from half-ebb to half-flood. In the 
shallower inlets the neap tides are preferable, as they 
do not drain the water so low as to alarm the fish. 

In bass fishing, whether for trolling or casting, the rod 
should be eight to ten feet long, stiff and light, but with 
a certain amount of elasticity. A rod made of a piece 
of bamboo, cut in two joints, will, until some awkward 



214 STRIPED BASS. 

friend steps on and breaks it, answer as well as any other, 
and one that costs three dollars is in every particular as 
good as one worth forty. The light bamboo jointed rods 
of our ancestors are no more to be had ; the makers say 
it is impossible to get the cane of the proper taper, and 
rods of ash and hickory have come into fashion. The 
latter will answer every purpose, but as they are sure to 
warp, the guides should be double, so that the line can 
be shifted from one side to the other. Patent standing 
guides are all the fashion with us, though the English 
use the old-fashioned rings made large. Of course we 
prefer our own invention. The funnel-top should be 
large, and for a valuable rod, or a particular gentleman, 
should be made of agate. They are infinitely superior 
to the old-fashioned ring-top still used in England. Avoid 
having many guides ; they create friction, and three or 
four will answer every purpose. 

If you are a gentleman and a man of fortune, of lavish 
hand and open heart, you should use what is called a 
grass or raw silk line, buying a new one every two 
weeks, by which time it will be rotted out. It does not 
kink or over-run, works beautifully, and will enable you 
to cast ten yards further than with any other ; but it is 
not strong at best, will rot immediatelv if not dried after 
the least exposure, and costs money. If you are a poor 
or a careless man, buy a new flax line every year, and 
throw it away in the Fall, after being disgusted with it 
all the season. If you are neither of these, buy a plaited 
silk line of one hundred yards ; be sure and get a new 
one, and take care of it. 

Lines may be preserved from rotting by being dipped 



STRIPED BASS. 215 

in a mixture made of one pound of printer's varnish, 
half a pound of siccity, and one gill of spirits of tur- 
pentine, warmed up together, or in the ordinary drying 
oil sold at the paint shops, and although they do not 
render quite so easy, I have all mine, trout and bass 
lines, so prepared. I cannot take the trouble to dry my 
lines after every exposure, and if once forgotten, without 
being so protected, they are ruined. A well-made silk 
line is strong enough to hang oneself by, if the angler 
should be disgusted with life by his ill luck, and coated 
in this manner they will last a long time. They do not 
get saturated or take up water in casting, and do nol 
stick to the rod as they otherwise would. Lines for fly 
fishing, prepared in a similar manner, are sold in the 
fishing-tackle stores, although the makers are opposed U 
an improvement that will diminish their business. The 
line is dipped in the preparation when warm, and left in 
all night ; it is removed next morning after the mixture 
has been rewarmed, and is stretched in a garret or other 
place not exposed to the sun or rain, and the superfluous 
varnish wiped off, and after it is thoroughly dried, it is 
well rubbed. This preparation cannot be used with linen 
or cotton lines, as it will rot them. 

In striking a bass you cannot be too quick, and when 
fishing with a float your line will sink in the water and 
enable you to trip the float and fix the hook at once. 
The fish must then be kept well in hand; but never 
exhibit severity unless compelled by circumstances ; be 
rough, and the fish will be rough ; be gentle, and he will 
come to you like a friend. Keep him from the rocks and 
bottom if possible ; but give to his willful rushes till he 



216 STRIPED BASS. 

is content to listen to reason. By this course you will 
avoid feeling often that sinking of the heart that follows 
when the strain suddenly ceases on your line, and you 
know he has escaped.* 

That fine game fish of the southern States usually 
called bass or red-fish, belongs to another family, and is 
the Corvina ocellata, or branded corvina. It is distin- 
guished by a peculiar black spot, like a drop of ink, near 
the tail. It furnishes noble sport and excellent eating, 
abounds in the neighborhood of the Chesapeake Bay, and 
is highly prized at southern tables. 

* Prepared lines are sold now at all the fishing-tackle shops, and linen lines aro 
made bo fine, beautiful, and strong, that for bass-fishing nothing better is 
needed. For surf-fishing use a nine-thread line. 



BLACK BASS. 



CHAPTER XXII. 

BLACK BASS. 

Gristes Nigricans (Agassiz) — Centrarchus Fasciatus 
(De Kay). 

This fish has innumerable scientific names, while it can 
scarcely be said to have any distinctive popular one. 
Bass, either alone or with some additional appellation, is 
applied by common usage to almost the entire perch fam- 
ily, one of the largest among the American fishes, while 
scientific men are at as great a loss for appropriate nomen- 
clature or accurate distinctions. There are probably 
several species classed under the same name as this fish, 
and itself differs greatly in color and appearance, accord- 
ing to its food, water or locality. There is no doubt that 
all fish, and more especially trout, change their hues 
according to the color of the water they inhabit, or even 
to the light or shade of their favorite haunts. It is sup- 
posed that they assimilate to the bottom where they are 
found, a provision of nature to protect them from their 
enemies of the air. Unquestionably the same species 
present a very different appearance in clear, limpid 
streams, and in muddy, sluggish brooks. Black Bass are 
said to possess of themselves the power to change their 
color at will, and have been known to do so repeatedly 
when confined in a vessel of water. They are found to 

10 



218 BLACK BASS 

have black, green and yellow sides, according to circum- 
stances, and often within a short distance of one another, 
though their backs are generally dusky black. 

The gill-cover has two flat points, the teeth are minute, 
while the back fin, though single, is partly divided into 
two. It contains ten hard and fourteen soft rays ; the 
pectoral has eighteen soft rays, the ventral six, the first 
one almost spinous, the anal three spines, the first very 
short, and twelve soft rays, and the tail sixteen soft rays. 
This fish has been confounded with the Lake Huron Black 
Bass, Haw nigricans, which is now supposed to be a 
different variety, characterized by two longitudinal lines 
or stripes running the entire length of its body. 

The gill-rays are six and the fin-rays, as given by Dr. 
De Kay, are as follows, but I think liable to consider- 
able variation. 

D. 9.1.14 ; P. 18 ; Y. 5 ; A. 3.12 ; C. 16£. 

Black Bass, belonging as they do to the perch family, 
have many of the habits and can be captured in the 
same manner as their congeners. But, as they are infi- 
nitely superior in flavor, they are equally so in game and 
sporting qualities. They will take minnows, shiners, 
grasshoppers, frogs, worms, or almost anything else that 
can be called a bait, and like all fish, prefer the live to 
the dead. They may be fished for with good stout 
tackle, gut leaders, a reel, and an ordinary bass rod, in the 
same manner as fish are generally captured by boys and 
blockheads. In June they affect the grassy bottom in 
water fifteen to twenty feet deep, but as the season 
advances they resort to the rocky shoals and rapid cur- 
rents, where they are taken on and after the middle of 



BLACK BASS. 219 

July by sportsmen with the fly. They may be captured 
by casting the fly as for salmon or trout, and this is by 
far the most sportsmanlike way, but the most destructive 
and usually resorted to is trolling. For casting, a two- 
handed seventeen foot salmon rod is preferable, while for 
trolling, a short bass rod is the thing. By anchoring 
your boat to the windward of a shoal, or by walking out 
on some point of rocks, you can command a great extent 
of water with your fly -rod, and have royal sport alone, 
whereas for trolling an oarsman is indispensable. 

The flies to be used are the ordinary small-sized salmon 
flies, not too gaudy, though the first dropper and tail fly 
may be larger and made of white and ibis feathers 
mixed. In casting you will use your ordinary cast, but 
in trolling you may attach five or six flies to a long sal- 
mon leader at equal distances, and will frequently take 
several fish at a time. My experience has convinced me 
that a number of flies attract fish, whether trout or bass, 
and the more you can conveniently use the greater will 
be your success. 

Black bass abound in the northern waters, where they 
are invariably trolled for with two rods, one on each 
side of the boat, in the same manner as in taking pick- 
erel, but two rods are a great additional trouble, for 
when a fish strikes one the other has to be reeled up by 
your boatman, lest the hooks sink to the bottom. If the 
boat is kept in motion, it is almost impossible to reel in 
a large bass, and would make a labor of a pleasure, even 
if he should be eventually captured. 

A small trolling spoon is excellent bait, probably pre- 
ferable to the fly at all seasons except the middle of 



220 BLACK BASS. 

July, when the eel-fly, the principal food of the bass, is 
just disappearing, and the artificial fly is then a luxury. 
In case a spoon is used, the shank of the hook is usually 
wound with ibis feathers, and a Buel's patent is the 
favorite. It has been recommended at times to fasten a 
forked piece of pickerel tongue on the bend of your fly- 
hook, but like a similar direction as to a worm on a trout 
fly-hook, I have no faith in it. Another successful bait 
that has, in my opinion, more reputation than value, is 
the kill-devil, a creature that is beyond my powers of 
description, and must be seen to be appreciated. 

The hours and days favorable for fishing are, in the 
main, similar for all fish ; if the water is deep or turbid 
there may be an exception, but generally a southwesterly 
wind, a cloudy sky, and the morning and evening hours, 
will yield the best sport. This is so for black bass, and 
the more wind the better, until it becomes difficult to 
row and manage the boat. In the western wilds, where 
deer are plentiful, an attractive fly is made by tying a 
white and red tuft of deer's hair along the shank of the 
hook ; the thread being passed round the middle of the 
tuft, allows the upper part of the hairs to be bent back 
by the motion through the water, giving an appearance 
of life to the bait. 

An ingenious mode of proceeding is suggested in 
Brown's Angler's Guide, that is worthy of young Ameri- 
can genius, to which it is attributed. A boy hnving 
caught a sun-fish, runs his hook through its nose and out 
at its mouth, covering the point with a lively worm. 
Other sun-fish, seeing their fellow have all to himself a 
fine, fat worm which he seems unable to master, collect 



BLACK BASS. 221 

round him, and by their numbers attract the bass, who 
dashes in among them, and while the rest make off, 
swallows the one with the worm, and of course himself 
falls a prey to the ingenious young fisherman. This 
like the use of cray-fish, mice, swallows, and many othei 
baits, may be excellent, but I have never tried it or 
them ; so long as the fish will take a fly, I fish with 
nothing else ; it is infinitely more exciting to kill one fish 
on the fly than ten with bait. 

Black bass are taken among the Thousand Isles in 
immense numbers, but not of any great size, rarely 
exceeding three pounds. In Lake Champlain, near 
House's Point, and in the lakes of Canada, they grow 
larger. The largest, probably, never exceeding eight 
pounds. They are taken in most of the waters of the 
northern and northwestern States, especially in the 
Magara and Detroit rivers, Lake St. Clair, Lake Erie 
and Lake Huron. They make their appearance from 
deep water in May and June, grow to great excellence 
in July and August, but are in their best condition in 
September and October. They are a fine, noble game 
fish, and where trout are not to be had are well worthy 
of the sportsman's attention ; when captured, which can 
only be done by skill and care, they prove an excellent 
addition to the table. 

The fish usually known as trout at the South, albeit 
that name is applied to many varieties, is a species of 
black bass, and is taken by trolling with a rod and short 
line before the boat as it is rowed along. 



222 ROCK BASS 



CHAPTER XXIII. 



ROCK BASS. 



Gentrarchus ^Eneus. — This is an entirely distinct spe- 
cies from the Black Bass, though, being somewhat similar 
in color and shape, is often confounded with them. The 
same may be said of the Oswego Bass, which is now 
ascertained to be equally distinct, though commonly 
known as bass, and supposed to be identical. The fish 
under consideration must in no wise be confounded with 
the Rock-fish of Pennsylvania, which is the Striped Bass, 
Ldbrax Mneatus, and which the benighted Pennsylva- 
nians would oblige us by calling by its right name. 

The Rock Bass has two flat points at the angle of the 
gill-cover, and is distinguished from the variety last de- 
scribed by six or seven spines and eleven soft rays in the 
anal fin. The dorsal has eleven spines, and ten or twelve 
soft rays ; the pectoral fourteen soft rays, the ventral one 
spine and five soft rays, and the gill-rays are six. The 
fin-rays are given by Dr. De Kay as follows : 

D. 11.12 ; P. 14 ; V. 1.5 ; A. 6.11 ; C. 17f . 

This fish is found in much the same waters as the 
black bass, and, like the latter, made its way on the com- 
pletion of the Champlain canal through it into the Hudson 
River. It takes any of the ordinary baits, preferring, 
however, the cray-fish, Astacus Bartoni, and can be 



ROCK BASS. 223 

captured even with the fly, but not readily. In the St. 
Lawrence River it feeds mostly on the eel-fly, so long as 
that lasts, choosing, I believe, the dead ones ; and in 
July I have found them filled with that fly. They never 
attain the size of the larger black bass, although they 
are taken of over three pounds, but are a brave, vora- 
cious fish, and excellent at table.* 

* It is now generally accepted as the scientific conclusion that the Oswego bass, 
the Southern black-bass— there called the chub— and the big-mouthed bass, aro 
one and the same. I know, however, that the Southern black-bass, the Grystes 
salmoides, is a much finer fish on the hook and on the table than his supposed 
compeer, the Oswego bass, and takes the fly as freely and fiercely as the true 
black-bass. The latter is now generally called the Small-mouthed bass, that being 
his distinguishing peculiarity. 



224 THE PIKE PERCH. 



CHAPTEE XXI V 



THE PIKE PERCH. 



Luciqperca Americana. — This fish is mentioned more 
on account of the absurd misnomers that have been 
applied to it, to warn persons against similar errors, than 
on account of its sporting qualities. There appears to 
be some confusion among naturalists concerning this 
family ; there is probably an undescribed species. Dr. 
De Kay mentions a bluish fish which he regarded not as 
a distinct variety, but as an aged specimen. By a close 
comparison of the two, I am satisfied that although the 
scientific peculiarities are wonderfully alike, there are 
substantial differences. 

The Pike Perch is called the Glass-eye, the Big-eyed 
Pike, the Pickerel, Pickering, and Pike of the Lakes ; 
whereas a simple suggestion will establish the difference 
between it and the pikes or pickerel. The latter has all 
the fin- rays soft, and the ventrals in the centre of the 
abdomen, whereas this fish, which is a true perch, has 
many spinous rays, and the ventrals close beneath and 
just behind the pectorals. 

The Pike Perch is of an olive color on the back, yel- 
lowish on the sides, and white beneath. It attains a 
weight of thirty pounds, and is distinguished particularly 
by the peculiarity of having the membrane attached tc 



THE PIKE PERCH. 225 

the last two rajs of the first dorsal jet black, whereas 
that attached to the other rays is yellow. The lower 
edge of the gill-cover has been described as smooth, but 
I find the fore part of it slightly serrated ; the posterior 
part has one flat spine, beyond which there is a pointed 
membrane, and above a rudimentary spine. There is a 
series of sharp teeth on both jaws and the gill-arches, 
two in the front of each jaw being long and conspicuous. 
The base of the tongue is roughened but toothless, and I 
can find no teeth on the vomer. The scales are not large, 
and have the edges marked out by a series of dots. 

The fins, as I make them, are — 

Br. T ; D. 13.2.20 ; P. 10 ; Y. 1.5 ; A. 1.14 ; C. 17|. 

But according to Dr. De Kay they are — 

Br. 7 ; D. 13.1.21 ; P. 15 ; Y. 1.5 ; A. 1.14 ; C. 17f. 

The color of the anal is reddish yellow ; of the ven- 
trals light yellow, and pectorals yellowish olive. There 
are scales on the gill-covers ; those on the fore gill-cover 
being scattered and few. Beyond these differences my 
examination found the ordinary pike of the lakes to ac- 
cord with the description of Dr. De Kay ; but the other 
species that I have mentioned was very different both in 
color and appearance, and is, as I conceive, the true 
Ohio salmon, a name that has been applied to the spe- 
cies just described. 

As for the color in the latter species, that was totally 
different, being so far like the salmon as to have no 
doubt given origin to the name. It is bluish grey on 
the back, greyer on the sides, and white on the abdomen. 
The only part of membrane of the dorsal of the salmon 
that is black is that attached to the last spine alone of 

10* 



226 THE PIKE perch. 

the first dorsal. The shape of the fore gill-cover is 
slightly different, and the spines on its edge are more 
distinct and regular, like teeth. There are no bars on 
any fin except the dorsal ; there are no scales on the gill- 
cover, and the fins are all light and transparent. There 
are minute teeth on the base of the tongue. 

The fish that this description is taken from were found 
in New York market on the 25th day of February, and 
may have been altered by their winter dress ; but they 
were unknown to the fish-dealers, one of whom called 
my attention to them and inquired their name. They 
did not weigh over a pound, and the largest was fifteen 
inches long, of which the head was four. Of the dorsal, 
the second, third and fourth rays were the longest. 
Being but a sportsman, I mention these matters to attract 
the attention of the learned, who would do us a favor if 
they would seek out the old Indian names to apply to 
our anonymous fish. 

There is a third described species of lucioperca or pike 
perch, as the word means ; lucioperca grisea, that is 
found in the limits of New York, as well as the lucio- 
perca canadensis, which belongs to Canada. 

It is to be observed that Dr. De Kay puts the length 
of the lucioperca americana at 14.5, but says they are 
occasionally much larger ; whereas the fish known as the 
pike of the lakes is taken in immense quantities in Lake 
Ontario, in April, of twenty pounds' weight, and rarely 
falls below five. There is a small pike perch known as 
the sorga, with the same general characteristics, but with 
the membrane attached to the last spine-ray. of the first 
dorsal alone black. The back is yellow mottled with 



THE PIKE PERCH. 227 

black, and shaded down the sides to white on the abdo- 
men ; the first dorsal is yellow with dusky spots ; the 
second dorsal and tail yellow with dusky bars ; the gill- 
cover is scaled and the fore gill-cover partly scaled. It 
is precisely the shape of what I call the Ohio salmon 
but of a totally different color. Its length is about 
twelve inches, and its weight does not exceed a pound, 
The fin-rays are — 

Br. 7 ; D. 12.1.18 ; P. 12 ; V. 5 ; A. 1.11 ; C. 17f . 

There are unquestionably at least three distinct varie- 
ties, besides the grey and the Canadian pike perch ; 
they are popularly known as the pike the sorga, and the 
Ohio salmon, and all are highly esteemed for the 
table. 




mkmmk 






dbkifab 



228 T HE YELLOW PERCH. 



CHAPTER XXY. 



THE YELLOW PERCH. 



Perca Flavescens. — The Yellow Perch has, as his 
name indicates, a predominant yellow color on his 
sides ; there are a* number of dark vertical bars over 
the back, and the pectorals, ventrals and anal are 
orange. The gill-cover is serrated beneath and armed 
with a long spine, and the fore gill-cover has a toothed 
margin. There are two dorsals ; the ventrals are be- 
neath and slightly behind the pectorals, and the teeth 
are minute. The greatest weight is four or five pounds. 
The fin-rays are as follows — 

D. 13.2.15 ; Y. 1.5 ; A. 2.8 ; C. 17f. 

Unfortunately, this fish, equally despised by the 
gourmand and the sportsman, abounds in our fine ponds 
and lakes, that ought to be devoted to his noble con- 
gener, the black bass. He will take the fly if it is 
allowed to rest in the water, and after hooking a trout 
that had fouled in the weeds, I have found a perch on 
the second fly. He spawns in April or May, seeking 
the sandy shore, near projecting roots, where there is 
a depth of a foot of water. I have seen them crowd- 
ed together, male and female, jostling and following one 
another round and round through the roots, pressing out 
milt and spawn, and so busily engaged that they could 



THE YELLOW PERCH. 



229 



be taken with the net or the hand. In mere wantonness 
and desire to diminish their numbers I destined all I 
could, hanging them on strings with the spawn stream- 
ing from them. The eggs, which were almost trans- 
parent, were in the water in masses, kept together by 
a glutinous substance, and each marked with a black 
spot, and could be taken up in the net, straining slowly 
through the meshes. 

Yellow perch will take worm or minnow, preferring 
the former, and it is probable destroy numbers of 
young trout. Their flesh is coarse, white and tasteless, 
They are pursued only by boys and ladies. 




230 PROPAGATION OF FISH. 



CHAPTEE XXVI. 



PROPAGATION OF FISH. 



There is no subject more important to the material 
welfare of our country, or that a persistent and willful 
disregard of the laws of nature has rendered more neces- 
sary, than the culture of the various tribes of fish that 
were once abundant in our rivers and lakes and along 
our coasts, but which are rapidly diminishing, and 
:hreaten soon to become extinct. 

Fortunately great strides have been made and great 
interest aroused in this matter, and the only article in the 
first edition of this w^ork wdiich the author has felt himself 
called upon to seriously modify, is that upon this subject. 
Then there was not a Fishery Commission in a single State 
of the Union, nor was there a skilled fish culturist in the 
land, except perhaps Dr. Garlick, who was making experi- 
ments out West, and Mr. Seth Green, who was studying 
out the spawning habits of fish by himself, by the side of 
the forest streams, and laying in stores of knowledge 
which were to serve as a foundation for the great fish- 
cultural fame that he has since acquired. The author 
may claim that his former few pages of advice and in- 
struction may have tended in a measure to bring about 
the change, and to give to us State Fishery Commissions 
in a great majority of the States, and a National Com- 



PROPAGATION OF FISH. 231 

mission that] lias no equal for scientific attainments or 
practical work in the world. For the creation of the lat- 
ter, the author also claims not merely the influence of his 
writings, but his assistance as a member of Congress in 
getting the law passed which established the United 
States Fishery Commission, and placed it under the charge 
of so efficient a public officer as Mr. Spencer F. Baird. 

At that time there was hardly a word written on the 
subject in this country except a pamphlet by Dr. Garlick, 
and such translations from the French as described the 
operations under Prof. Coste, and accounts of a few lim- 
ited English experiments. Not a private establishment 
for the cultivation and sale of fish on any considerable 
scale existed, and no expectation that any large public 
benefits would ever arise from fish propagation, was gen- 
erally felt. Since that time hundreds of books have been 
written in this country alone, the time of scientific men 
has been devoted to it, fish cultural societies have been 
formed, and there are several successful establishments 
for the hatching and sale of young fish. In no develop- 
ment of this wonderful country has there been so re- 
markable an advance, such a change from darkness to 
light, such an elevation of public opinion, as in this mat- 
ter of the artificial increase of fish. 

The limits of this work will not permit a minute and de- 
tailed description of all the details of fish culture. For an 
exhaustive treatise on that subject, the reader is referred 
to a book called "Fish-Hatching and Fish-Catching," 
which contains in a practical form all that was known up 
to the time it was written. But general rules are given 
in this chapter which will enable the novice, the farmer, 
the gentleman country resident and happy owner of a 



232 PROPAGATION OF FISH. 

trout stream, to largely increase his revenue and his pleas- 
ure by recruiting his preserves and making waste waters, 
if not to blossom as roses, to produce a yield of food for 
the table and sport for the rod. 

We shall turn first our attention to trout and salmon 
culture, which are so nearly identical that they may be 
studied together. There are at present no natural salmon 
rivers in this country except in Maine, Oregon and Cali- 
fornia, the efforts to restock the Merrimac and the Con- 
necticut having only achieved partial success. It is the 
present opinion of the writer that salmon were never 
regular visitors of the Hudson River, or that if they were 
indigenous to it, it was only in very limited numbers. 
This opinion was formed from a study of the waters 
which are not well adapted to the propagation of that 
class of fishes. Further south than New York, salmon 
were probably never known to go at all. 

Under the head of Salmon, may be included the salmon, 
the trout, the salmon-trout, otherwise called lake-trout, 
the whitefish, the grayling, the fresh-water herring or 
cisco, and California brook-trout, and the California 
salmon. The scientific names of these are, salmo solar, 
salmo fontinalis, salmo conjinis, salmo amethystus, core- 
gonus alius, thymalhis signifer, and salmo quinnat. 
These are all essentially alike in their mode of culture, the 
differences being so inconsiderable that they may be dis- 
regarded for the present. We shall speak of one for the 
whole, only occasionally pointing out such individualities 
as may be necessary. 

They spawn in the autumn and winter, with the excep- 
tion of the California salmon, which is earlier, and spawns 
in summer and first of autumn ; the grayling, a fish of the 



PROPAGATION OF FISH. 233 

same race, which has lately been found to exist in onr 
country, and which spawns in March, and the California 
brook-trout which spawns in March and April. 

The salmon come in from the sea where they have passed 
the cold weather, as soon as the ice breaks up, and keep 
on all summer long running up into the fresh water ; which 
alone is adapted to the fructification of their eggs. Trout, 
in like manner, pass from the ponds and deep lakes into 
the cooler streams, where a constant supply of fresh and 
lively water can be obtained ; whitefish appear from the 
depths of the great lakes and seeking the shallows along 
shore, select gravelly and rocky reefs and springy spots to 
lay their eggs. 

Salmon and trout make nests, the female digging out 
the bottom and fanning away with her fins and tail the 
mud and finer sand from the gravel which she afterward 
uses to cover her eggs. When these operations are suf- 
ficiently advanced, she is joined by the male and they 
simultaneously, with one mutual impulse of amatory pas- 
sion, deposit the eggs of the female and milt of the male. 
Only a certain number of these are extruded at a single 
impulse, and are then carefully covered over with gravel 
by the female, while the male divides his time between 
driving away intruders of his own sex, who would usurp 
his prerogatives and devouring such stray eggs as may 
have escaped the notice of his wife and been carried down 
stream by the current. One noticeable peculiarity of the 
spawn of this class of fish is, that the moment it falls 
from the parent, it adheres to whatever it touches. This 
is a provision of nature to enable the parent to cover it 
over with gravel before it is washed away, which she 
does with remarkable skill and care, moving the stones 



234 PROPAGATION OF FISH. 

with her ventral fins and tail for that purpose. It remains 
fast for the space of thirty minutes or so, and then be- 
comes loose and is swept away by the current, a dainty 
morsel for whatever bird or fish or insect that comes 
across it. It is also to be observed that the eggs are 
heavy and sink to the bottom like shot ; a marked pecu- 
liarity of the spawn of the salmoiiidae, and distinguish- 
ing them from those of other varieties. 

Several different deposits of spawn are made and cov- 
ered up in this way, till often quite a mound of fish eggs 
and gravel is erected. Such mounds built by the famous 
trout of Rangeley and her sister lakes are large enough 
to fill a two-bushel basket. The operation of emitting 
the eggs is not all done at one time or on one day, it oc- 
cupies several days. As soon as the nest is completed, 
and the father and mother are exhausted of spawn and 
milt, they drop back worn out and weakly to the deeper 
water or the ocean to recuperate. The eggs are left to 
themselves unprotected, except for their gravelly covering. 

The enemies of fish life are numerous. The most to 
be dreaded are eels, which are difficult to exclude from 
the troughs, and devour eggs and young with equal vo- 
racity. Seven young trout have been taken from the stom- 
ach of an eel six inches long and no thicker than a fine 
knitting needle ; they grow as they eat, hiding most cun- 
ningly in the sand or gravel from human eye, and making 
their way through narrow passages and small holes that a 
person would not suspect them of being able to enter. 
One half-grown eel will destroy an unlimited number of 
fry or eggs. Ducks are equally destructive, thrusting 
their long bills down into the nests of spawn, or seizing 
and swallowing the young ; frogs, mice, rats, fish, many 



PROPAGATION OF FISH. 235 

birds, and the larvae of beetles and devil's darning nee- 
dles, and other water flies before they have developed into 
the perfect insects do their share of damage. A very 
large percentage fail to become impregnated, the current 
of water probably washing away the milt of the male be- 
fore the sperms could enter the eggs. Mr. Livingston 
Stone says that in digging some spawn of the California 
salmon, deposited by the parents in the natural manner, in 
the McCloud Paver, he found only eight per cent, vital- 
ized. 

For almost thirty days after birth the salmon or trout 
eats nothing, but is sustained by the absorption of the 
stomach or what is more accurately termed the umbilical 
sac. All this while, as may be readily understood, he is 
awkward and hampered in his movements, an easy prey 
to any hungry enemy. Appreciating his position he 
strives to hide himself during this period ; he crawls into 
holes and under stones, and often hides so effectually that 
when he has been artificially hatched his anxious foster 
father, the breeder, never discovers what has become of 
him, unless his breeding troughs are well made and free 
from worm holes. But in this, his hour of weakness, his 
enemies never desert him, they stand by him from first to 
last. At that stage of his development every miserable 
shiner, dace and minnow is his master, a very Giant Des- 
pair by comparison with his feebleness. 

If he outlives all these perils and attains a marketable 
size, man steps in. Man takes the best and so upsets the 
equipoise of nature, which up to that time had by its 
checks and balances kept all varieties of living creatures 
at an established relative proportion. For every salmon 
he eats there are ten thousand fewer eggs for the water 



236 PROPAGATION OF FISH. 

bugs and the minnows who will make up the loss out of 
those which are left. These embodiments of evil must 
be fed and grow more diligent in the search for food, the 
scarcer it becomes ; still man keeps on with net, and spear, 
and hook, making yearly larger drafts as the human race 
increases and extending his machinery as the prey dimin- 
ishes ; so the whole system of nature is disarranged. The 
edible fishes at first diminish, then, as the process goes on 
in geometrical ratio they decrease more rapidly, and the 
operation becomes accelerated at every step, till the stream 
or lake wdiich once abounded with excellent fish is utterly 
and absolutely denuded and left sterile, bare and un- 
productive. The insects have devoured the last edible 
fish wdiich man's greediness has failed to reach. This 
has happened with so many of the ponds and water cour- 
ses of our country that it is safe to say, fully one-half of 
the lakes, rivers and streams throughout the older States, 
at least, yield nothing of food for man. 

Such a result is no trivial injury to the community. 
The vast extent of these stretches of water are but little 
understood by the people at large. There are in the 
State of New York alone six hundred and forty-seven 
lakes, with an area of four hundred and sixty-six thou- 
sand four hundred and fifty-seven acres, besides countless 
smaller ponds, and miles of river and stream. Fully a 
quarter of a million of acres of the public patrimony are 
thus allowed to go to ruin and decay for the want of 
proper knowledge and a little care. It would have been 
easy to have protected them; it is a far more serious 
matter to restore their ancient productiveness. 

Trout are found in all rivers in which salmon can hatch 
their young, but as they are not necessarily migratory, 



PROPAGATION OF FISH. 237 

they often dwell where salmon cannot. Tront require a 
temperature of water never exceeding seventy degress. 
At sixty-eight degrees they begin to surfer ; at seventy 
degrees, unless there is a strong and broken current to 
give life to the water, they die rapidly, and not one 
will survive a temperature of seventy-five degrees. It is 
simply manifest then that the Southern and Western 
rivers are not generally inhabitable for trout or salmon. 
Trout may be found in the head waters of such as rise 
in the Alleghany range of mountains, but salmon can 
exist in none of them. So also with the sluggish, 
muddy rivers of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri and the 
vast central region of our continent. Throughout the en- 
tire section between the Alleghanies and Lake Superior and 
the Northern Mississippi, except in Northern Michigan, 
no trout are found, and then again not till you come to 
the Rocky Mountains. Trout and salmon, except in the 
matter of migration, are similar in their habits. The 
eggs of either may be hatched in the same boxes, with 
the same water, in about the same time, and under the 
same treatment. 

When we speak of the temperature of a pond or river, 
allowance must be made for springs to which fish will 
have recourse, precisely as men perishing in a room for 
air, would put their mouths to a knot hole to breathe. 
If there are springs enough, trout will live in waters the 
body of which reaches a higher temperature than seventy- 
five. So also, a strong rush of water as with a cataract 
or rapids, will enable them to endure greater heat than 
they could otherwise stand. Still it is not safe to subject 
any of the eastern salmon or trout family to a perma- 
nent temperature higher than sixty-five degrees. Salmon 



238 PROPAGATION OF FISH. 

trout suffer most and die the first, at least when they are 
confined in a limited space with a small flow of water. 

The first point in fish culture is to obtain the spawning 
fish in proper condition, for if the eggs are not mature or 
ripe, as it is usually called, not only are they useless, but 
the effort to extract them will kill the parent. Fish 
breeders, who make the cultivation of trout a business, 
and there are many in this country, keep on hand in suit- 
able ponds a supply of large fish. These are taken from 
the rivers, which they are ascending to spawn, and are 
kept over from year to year. Connected with the ponds 
in which they are confined, is a raceway, or long narrow 
trough which has a gravelled bottom, is covered with 
boards to exclude intrusive eyes, and in every way is 
made as attractive a nesting spot to the fish as possible. 
Into this they will proceed of themselves when they are 
ready to perform their allotted act of reproduction, and 
the breeder awaiting his opportunity, places a net at the 
mouth of the race and frightening them in, selects such 
as are ready for manipulation. 

When in a perfectly ripe condition, the eggs lie free in 
the ovaries in the abdomen, and may be extruded by a 
gentle pressure downward along the sides of the fish. 
They are caught in a basin and are vitalized by coming 
in contact with the milt from the males, for the fish, male 
and female, are stripped indiscriminately into one common 
receptacle. Formerly, the practice obtained of having 
this basin full of water, under the idea that such arrange- 
ment more nearly reproduced the natural conditions, but 
subsequent discoveries led to a change of this method. The 
ova are fertilized by the spermatozoa of the milt entering 
through the micropyle, and it was ascertained that these 



PROPAGATION OF FISH. 239 

spermatozoa, little tadpoles as they appear to be under 
the microscope, were not fond of water, and although 
very active when first emitted, soon perished in it. They 
retained their vitality much longer when dropped among 
the ova in a comparatively dry state, and this is the method 
universally pursued at present. The result of the change 
was very great ; on the earlier plan not more than one egg 
in three or four was vitalized, whereas now, fully ninety- 
eight per cent, are made capable of producing young. 

In selecting a place for trout hatching, it is essential to 
have one where the water is at an even low temperature, 
near to the springs if possible, and where there is abso- 
lute security from muddy drainage or overflow from 
rains. The shape of ponds is not important, if the water 
is abundant and cold enough. 

It is best, if possible, to have ponds so arranged that 
they can be entirely drained. This is necessary, some- 
times, for cleaning or repairing them, and changing the 
fish from one pond to another. If the slope of the 
ground is sufficient to permit of such an arrangement, it 
will often save much labor in pumping or bailing. The 
drain pipe may be of pump logs, tile or pipe of any 
kind, and should be fixed in the lowest part of the bot- 
tom, or as near it as the level of the ground will allow. 
Still better would be a regular flume reaching from the 
bottom of the pond to the top. A bulkhead may be put 
in to raise the water as high as may be required, and a 
wire screen the whole size of the flume set a short dis- 
tance in front of the bulkhead. This large screen has 
an additional advantage, as the larger the screen the less 
liable it is to clog up with leaves and moss, and the 
greater will be the volume of water passing through it. 



240 PROPAGATION OF FISH. 

Screens may be made of common wire painted with 
tar, or of galvanized iron wire. The last is the best, as 
it will last longest in proportion to its cost. The screens 
for keeping the small fry should be of fourteen threads 
to the inch, and for one year old fish five or six threads 
to the inch. Incline the screens at an angle of forty-five 
degrees, the top being farthest down stream. By inclin- 
ing the screens in this manner, a greater surface is ex- 
posed to the water, than if they were placed perpendicu- 
larly. The sockets should be so made that the screens 
will fit tightly, and yet be easily taken out to clean. 

A very good screen for two and three-year-olds can be 
made from strips of lath, planed, and nailed to a strong 
frame, with quarter-inch openings between them. Or, 
what is better, the slats should be at least four inches 
wide, so that if a leaf strikes against them, it will catch 
without obstructing the flow of water and lie flat against 
a single slat, or, if it reaches over the edge, it will be 
carried through by the current striking upon one end. 
It cannot lap around the slat as it would if it were smaller. 
As for the width of the slats from one another, the 
point to be guarded against is the fish running their 
heads through far enough to strike their eyes which will 
produce blindness. The distance they are to be apart 
will depend consequently, mainly on the size of the 
heads of the fish, and as fish grow at different rates of 
speed, it will not do to go merely by their age, but for 
fair sized fish an opening of about five-eighths of an inch 
will answer. This refers to the upper screen, the lower 
screen, that at the foot of the pond, may be larger, as the 
fish are more cautious about descending where they 
cannot see their way. 



PROPAGATION OF FISH. 241 

The proportion of males to females in a pond should 
be about one-half. Not so many are necessary to fecun- 
date the eggs, and it would be an advantage in one way 
to have fewer, since then there would not be so much 
fighting in choosing partners, and as all the females do 
not spawn at once, one male would be enough to serve 
several females ; but, on the other hand, the males seem 
to run out of milt before the females get through laying 
their eggs, and towards the close of the season it is often 
difficult to obtain males with milt enough to fecundate 
the eggs ; so that it seems better to have in the pond an 
equal number of males and females, thereby giving more 
chance of saving some of the milt till the last of the 
season. The males are very amorous, and will pair again 
and again. It very often happens, that some of them 
die from the exhausting effects of the season. 

The trout will not sjjawn in the ponds where the bot- 
tom consists of large stones or weeds; but if there is 
sand or gravel anywhere on the bottom of the ponds, 
they will spawn on it. Therefore be careful to have 
only the raceway, where the water enters, covered with 
gravel. In October this may be washed and cleaned 
from the weeds which will have grown in it during the 
year. As soon as the fish are ready to spawn, they will 
ascend from the ponds into the raceway, seeking a place 
to nest. Then they are ready to be taken out and the 
spawn expressed. At the entrance of the raceway, there 
should be grooves to receive a frame, on which is tacked 
a net of coarse bagging about eight or ten feet long. 
One corner of this bag should be narrowed, left unsewn, 
and tied with a string, like the mouth of a meal sack. 
The race should be covered over in spawning time, as 



242 PROPAGATION OF FISH. 

the fish will come under the cover better and are not so 
likely to be frightened by any one passing. If there are 
fifteen hundred or two thousand fish in the pond, the net 
may be used every day in the height of the season, and 
when the fish become scarce, once in two or three days. 

Indications of spawning having been observed, the 
covers are put on the races, and as soon as there are fish 
in the raceway, the net is gathered up in one hand and 
the frame held in the other, in such a position as to be 
put in the grooves as quickly as possible, so as to let none 
of the fish escape from the race. Go quietly to the 
spot, and do not walk down the raceway to get to it, but 
approach from one side and put the net in the grooves as 
quickly as you can. The water running down will swell 
the net out to its full length. The covers may be then 
removed, and with a stick you may frighten the fish 
down from the head of the raceway into the net. As 
soon as they are all in, the frame may be lifted out of 
the water, and the fish are then enclosed in the bag. A 
tub of water should be previously brought near the spot, 
and the end of the net can be lifted into the tub and un- 
tied, when the fish will all fall into the tub without 
trouble. Coarse cloth is better for the purpose than net- 
ting, as it can be more easily tacked to the frame, does 
not hurt the fish so much, and lasts longer ; besides, the 
water swells it out and holds it open for the fish to run 
in better than it would a net, and the fish not seeing you 
through the cloth as they would through an open mesh, 
are not scared, and do not try to run back up the race. 

The fish being now in the tub, must be taken to the 
hatching house without any delay. There are proba- 
bly in the tub some fifteen or twenty fish, and all the 



PROPAGATION OF FISH. 243 

operations must be conducted as quickly as possible, so 
that they will not die in the small quantity of water to 
which they are confined. So long as the fish lie quiet in 
the bottom of the tub, there is sufficient air in the water 
to sustain them, but as soon as they come to the surface 
and try to leap out, it is a sign that the air is nearly ex- 
hausted and the water should be renewed. They will 
also open their mouths wide, just as a person would when 
gasping for air. Trout will die in a tub out of which 
the oxygen has been exhausted by their breathing, more 
quickly than they would die in a cloudy day if out of 
the water entirely. 

A fire may be made in the hatching-house to warm 
your fingers, which will probably get cool while engaged 
in this operation. A six-quart milk-pan is to be pro- 
vided, if you have many fish, and also another tub of 
water, into which to put the fish after they are deprived 
of their spawn. Select a fish, and holding it over the 
milk-pan, which has been dipped in water to wet it, rub 
it gently with the fore finger and thumb, from the pec- 
toral fins to the vent. A little experience will show how 
this is to be done. If the fish is ripe, a few drops of 
pearly-colored milt, or orange-hued eggs, will be forcibly 
expressed in the pan. If the milt is not of this color, it 
shows that the milt is not good, and another male must 
be taken, and treated in a similar manner. The female 
must be pressed more slowly and oftener than the male. 
If the eggs are not ripe, by passing the hand lightly 
over the belly, you will feel them beneath, hard, like 
shot. In that case put the fish back into the pond, for 
the eggs to ripen. When the eggs are ripe, the belly 
will be soft and flabby, and the eggs beneath the 



244 PROPAGATION OF FISH. 

skin feel loose and change their position at the touch. 
The operation must be continued until the fish are 
emptied of eggs and milt. The eggs in the pan may, at 
intervals, be gently stirred by moving the pan ; this is to 
change the position of the eggs, so as to be sure that all 
come in contact with the milt, and when the operation is 
completed, a half -pint of water is poured on them and the 
pan set in one of the hatching troughs through which the 
water is running ; this will keep the eggs up to the proper 
temperature, and prevent a sudden change when they are 
transferred to the trough. The eggs will now agglutinate 
or stick to the pan, and to each other, for a little while. 

The fish must be grasped by the head, if you are right- 
handed, with the right hand, and by the tail, or rather the 
lower part of the body, with the other hand, and held 
over the pan with the belly near the bottom of the pan. 
As soon as the fish is cpiiet, the right hand may be gently 
slipped down from the head, and the fore-finger and thumb 
used to press the belly. The fish still being held by the 
tail, and lower part in the left hand, and partly supported, 
perhaps, by the sleeve of the coat, or by the bare arm, and 
the remaining fingers of the right hand. The pan should 
be elevated at one side, during the operation of taking the 
spawn, by standing it on a block half an inch thick, and 
enough water will drip from the fish so that by tilting 
and shaking it, the milt can be brought in contact with 
the eggs. 

After stripping a female once she should be returned 
to the tub from which she was taken, and should be 
stripped again after a short time, during which other fish 
are being handled. This is to get the last egg from her, 
and if it is not done a few will remain and she will go on 



PROPAGATION OF FISH. 245 

the spawning beds to deposit them as if she had a full 
supply. If she is cleaned entirely, she will not bother 
herself or her owner about the matter again that season. 
The California mountain trout retain their eggs and milt 
with more determination than our brook-trout, and must 
be humored like a cow that will not give down her 
milk to any one but the creature for which nature in- 
tended it. After the trout are handled they are returned 
to different tubs, according to their sizes, as this is the 
occasion to sort them. 

Twenty to twenty-five minutes having now elapsed 
since the pan of eggs was set in the trough, gently tip up 
the pan. If the eggs are loose and roll separately as you 
move it, they are ready for subsequent operations ; if not 
yet loose, let them remain a while longer. Pour off the 
dirty water until only sufficient is left to cover the eggs. 
If this is done very gently, the eggs, although very light, 
will remain at the bottom, as they are somewhat heavier 
than water ; then sink the pan into the water, at the same 
time tipping it, and take it half full of water. The influx 
of water will wash the eggs around somewhat, and dilute 
the dirty water remaining in the pan. This is to be 
poured off, as before, and the operation repeated, until the 
water looks perfectly clear. There will be some dirt and 
droppings of the trout still left, which can be carefully 
picked out with the nippers. If an egg should happen to 
be broken, while being taken from the trout, every ves- 
tige of it should be carefully removed, as the slimy, sticky 
contents will get on the other eggs and kill them. The 
eggs are now ready to be placed in the trough, as soon as 
you shall have raised the water in the nest to which you 
wish to transfer them, by placing a strip across the 



246 PROPAGATION OF FISH. 

trough. Then sink the pan gently to the edge in the 
water of the trough, at the same time tipping the pan, so 
that the water in the trough and in the pan shall come 
together with as little current as possible. Then the edge 
of the pan may be sunk into the water, and by tipping 
the pan a little more, the eggs will flow out without in- 
jury. By moving the pan while the eggs are running 
out, they may be spread uniformly over the bottom. If 
they fall in a heap, take the bearded end of a feather, and 
move the water with it in the direction you wish the eggs 
to go, and they will follow the current thus created. This 
may be done without touching the eggs with the feather. 
Distribute the eggs as evenly as possible over the surface 
of the nest. Where they are placed upon wire sieves, 
these may be moved and shaken under water, so as to dis- 
tribute the eggs evenly. 

The strip which was placed across the trough to raise 
the water, should then be removed. Care must be taken 
that it be not removed so suddenly as to cause a rush of 
water, which would carry most of the eggs away with it. 
Raise the strip a little way from the bottom, so as to let 
the water run out gradually, and when it is very nearly or 
altogether at the proper level, the strip may be removed 
entirely. Those who have a nursery attached to the 
troughs, place the earliest eggs in the lower end of the 
trough, and keep placing them toward the top, so that 
the fish which are first hatched can run first into the nur- 
sery without disturbing the others. About ten thousand 
may* be placed in each nest eighteen inches by fifteen 
inches. 

If the eggs have been received from a trout breeder, 
they should be left in the packages in which they have 



PROPAGATION OF FISH. 247 

been sent until the troughs are ready for them. Persons 
will sometimes take the tin boxes containing the eggs out 
of the sawdust in which they were packed, and set them 
in the water of their troughs, with the idea perhaps of 
getting the eggs in the box to the same temperature as 
the water before unpacking them. This will surely kill 
the eggs in a few hours. Leave them in the original pack- 
age until a few hours before you are ready to place them 
in the troughs. Then take out the tins and set them 
over or near the troughs, which will reduce or raise the 
temperature enough. Then empty the box into a tin pan 
full of water taken from the trough, pick out as much 
moss as you can readily with your fingers or nippers, and 
wash off the rest in the manner shown in directions for 
washing eggs hereafter. 

The eggs are placed on trays made of wire cloth 
stretched on wooden frames. Each tray is twenty-seven 
inches long by fourteen inches wide, and will hold in a 
layer, one deep, six thousand two hundred and seventy- 
two salmon trout eggs. Instead of using only one layer 
of these trays, it has been the practice of late years to use 
four layers in the upper sections and five in the lower 
sections. 

If only a few eggs are to be hatched (say eight or ten 
thousand) no hatching house is necessary. The troughs 
may be placed in the open air, in any convenient place, 
and covered with a wire screen, to keej) out rats, mice 
and ducks. A light board cover must then be laid over 
them, to shed the rain and snow and keep the eggs from 
exposure to the sunlight. A hatching house is much more 
comfortable to work in. A stove may be put in it and a 
fire started occasionally for warming one's fingers, but it 



PROPAGATION OF FISH. 

is not needed for hatching purposes, as spring water in 
these latitudes is warm enough. The house may be con- 
structed of rough boards, or as expensively as you choose, 
but care should be taken to have a water-tight roof, as 
drops of water leaking through and falling into the 
troughs will kill the eggs underneath. Its size must be 
regulated by the number and extent of the troughs. 

The windows in a hatching house should be few in 
number and provided with curtains or shutters, as the 
sun shining upon the spawn will kill it. Not that a few 
minutes' exposure to the rays of the sun will hurt the 
eggs, but a few hours' exposure certainly will. Perhaps 
it would be well to have the windows, if possible, made 
on the north side of the hatching house, into which the 
sun will not shine in the winter season. Keep the hatch- 
ing house clean. In fact cleanliness is one of the cardinal 
virtues to the trout raiser. He should have a clean house, 
should work with clean hands, and have all his pans, 
spoons and utensils of every sort free from grease and dirt, 

The troughs should be made of seasoned timber, one 
and a half inch thick. They should be six inches deep 
and about fifteen inches wide, inside measurement. It 
would be better, perhaps, if the troughs were eight or nine 
inches deep, because then the water could be raised 
higher over the young trout after they are hatched out. 
The difficulty in making them so deep is that when the 
sides of the trough are made so wide, they are apt to warp 
or stretch apart at the top, and must be stayed in some 
way ; for instance, by strips nailed across. But the cleaner 
the trough is of all strips, elbows, or grooves, the better. 
The troughs are divided into squares or nests by cross 
strips set on the bottom at intervals of eighteen inches. 



PROPAGATION OF FISH. 249 

These strips may be made of half-inch stuff and cut two 
inches in width. There is no necessity for nailing them 
to the bottom ; fit them in accurately and set them edge- 
ways at intervals of eighteen inches. As they do not 
need to be removed often, it is better to make them fit 
tightly. Other strips of the same stuff must be pro- 
vided, to fit upon these and made wide enough to raise 
the water within an inch of the top of the trough ; as 
these need to be often moved, they must be made loose 
enough to take out, and yet fit accurately enough to raise 
the water over them when they are put in. New wood 
under the action of water develops a slimy sap, therefore 
it is necessary to paint the troughs with hot coal tar 
mixed with enough turpentine to thin it to about the con- 
sistency of paint. The troughs should have an inclina- 
tion of about one inch in eight feet — just enough to let 
the water ripple gently over the cross strips. They should 
not be longer than twenty feet, or the air in the water will 
be exhausted before the water reaches the end of the 
trough. There is more danger of this after the eggs are 
hatched out and the troughs are full of young fish. If 
possible, the hatching house should be so far below the 
level of the spring from which its supply of water is de- 
rived, as to allow the troughs to be raised two or three feet 
from the floor. 

The filter is a box six feet long by one and a half feet 
wide and one and one-half feet deep; in which four or 
five flannel screens can be placed through which to filter 
the water before it passes into the troughs. The coarsest 
and cheapest red flannel is the best. It will rot and must 
be renewed once or twice in a season. Red flannel will 
last twice as long as any other. The flannel should be 



250 PROPAGATION OF FISH. 

tacked on frames running in grooves set at an angle of 
forty-five degrees (the top down stream), so as to expose 
as much surface as possible to the water. 

Sediment falling on the egg keeps the water off and 
destroys its life as effectually as if buried in the mud. If 
sediment falls upon the eggs it may be removed by gently 
agitating the eggs with a feather, or better still, by creat- 
ing a current in the water with a feather. 

From the filter the water runs into the distributing trough 
or pipe, which, runs along the head of all the hatching 
troughs. The water may be let into the hatching troughs by 
faucets, or through holes cut into the trough. These holes 
should be covered with netting, or the youngish will run 
up out of the troughs into the filter, or coarse gravel may 
be heaped up at the head of the trough through which 
the water will run, but through which the young fish 
cannot work their way. The simply of water for one 
trough should be equal to that coming through a three- 
fourth-inch hole with three inches head ; just enough to 
make a gentle ripple over the cross-j>ieces. Be careful to 
get the troughs level crossways, and the strips true, so that 
when the water is running it will form an equal current 
over every part of each strip along the whole length of 
the trough. The length of time required to hatch out 
the eggs depends upon the temperature of the water. 
A general rule sufficiently accurate for all practical pur- 
poses is this : At fifty degrees trout eggs will hatch out 
in fifty days, each degree colder takes five days longer, 
and each degree warmer five days less. The difference, 
however, increasing as the temperature falls, and dimin- 
ishing as it rises. The best temperature for hatching 
is between thirty-five and forty-five degrees. 



PROPAGATION OF FISH. 251 

After the eggs have lain in the water from fifty to sev- 
enty-five days, according to the temperature, the tront 
will begin to make their appearance, the egg appears to 
be endowed with life, and the motions of the trout inside 
"kicking" against the shell to force a way out can be 
plainly perceived without the use of a microscope. At 
length the trout forces his way through, head first or tail 
first, those that hatch head first always dying, however, and 
the useless shell floats away down stream. The trout is 
then about one-half inch long, and the body proper as thin 
as a needle ; the most prominent features being a pair of 
eyes, huge in comparison with the rest of the body, and 
a sac nearly as large as the egg. This sac is attached to 
the belly of the fish, and contains food, which the fish 
gradually absorbs. If the fish are hatched in fifty days, 
the sac lasts about thirty, if in seventy days, about forty- 
five. At this period of their lives they will work down 
into the crevices of the gravel and along the sides of the 
troughs and stay there, nature seeming to give them the 
instinct at this weak and defenceless period of their lives, 
when they are burdened with a load which they can 
hardly carry, to get out of sight and out of the way of 
harm. 

The most critical period in the life of a trout com- 
mences when the umbilical sac is absorbed. More, perhaps, 
die from the time they begin to feed until they are six 
months old, than at any other time. In consequence 
many different plans for nurseries have been suggested 
and used. The fry require a largely increased supply of 
water, but where only a moderate number is to be raised, 
in place of erecting other and wider troughs or boxes for 
nurseries, the better plan is to put only a few eggs, say 



252 PROPAGATION OF FISH. 

five hundred, into each square or nest of the hatching 
trough. The square is then large enough with the water 
raised to keep the trout well for a month or two after 
they commence feeding, when they may be transferred 
into the first or upper pond. 

The fry are removed from the troughs into the pond 
by the use of a small net. Take them upon this, a few 
at a time, and put them into a pan of water ; they will 
swim off the net and you may draw it from under them. 
In the pan they may be carried, a thousand at a time, to 
the pond in which you wish to place them. Put them 
into still water ; they will settle down on the bottom and 
remain there for some hours, then they will begin to ex- 
plore their new quarters, and in a few days will become 
thoroughly habituated to the place. 

The best food for trout fry is raw liver, chopped as 
fine as possible, and then rubbed through a screen or 
sieve with a flat stick. It must be reduced to the consis- 
tency of pulp, and contain no strings or gristle. A chop- 
ping machine is made for chopping hash or sausage, and 
either that, or a couple of sharp knives are used to chop 
the liver. "What is used is mixed with water so as to re- 
duce it to about the thickness of cream. A teacupful 
of this mixture will feed a hundred thousand fish when 
they first begin to feed. The best way to feed them is to 
take a case-knife, dip it in the food and " slirt" off what 
adheres into the troughs ; a very simple way, but one ans- 
wering all practical purposes. Care should be taken not 
to feed too much, else the surplus food will remain on the 
bottom, and decaying there foul the trough. The reason 
of the difficulty in raising young fish appears to be that 
they are literally starved to death. The food which we 



PROPAGATION OF FISH. 253 

can give them is not natural to them, it is often given in 
snch coarse pieces that they cannot take it, and sometimes, 
through the carelessness of a hired hand, they are neg- 
lected two or three days at a time. 

Young salmon, young salmon trout, California moun- 
tain trout, and above all young California salmon are 
larger, have stronger appetites, and will accept coarser 
food. For them, although at first the liver should be 
made as fine as for trout, when they are a few weeks old 
it will be hardly necessary to dilute it at all, and in the 
course of a few months they will not only take the larger 
pieces, often tearing them apart, but will scorn the finer 
portion. At one time sour milk was almost exclusively 
used for feeding young fish, but it has been given up. 
Other foods have been tried, but with no better success. 
The fish will not thrive on any of them as well as they 
do on liver, and do not thrive on that as well as if it were 
a natural food. Near the salt water, where soft clams 
can be obtained, they are used in place of liver. 

As they grow older, other things may be substituted 
or may be added to it as a change. They are fond of the 
roe of other fish, of the spawn of the horse-foot or king- 
crab ; of fish itself, and when they are large enough to 
eat minnows, no better food can be given them. Liver is 
too expensive when it has to be used alone for grown fish, 
and beef lights are usually added to it or used in place of 
it in a measure. It is miserable food, however, much of 
it passing through the stomachs of the trout and salmon 
wholly undigested and collecting in the bottom of the 
ponds. It injures the digestive organs and must be del- 
eterious to the health of the fish. Its only recommenda- 
tion is that it is cheap. Maggots are bred on spoilt meat, 



254 PEOPAGATION OF FISH. 

hung over the ponds, and as they fall off and drop into 
the water are readily devoured, and make excellent food. 
Or a piece of spoilt meat may be placed in a deep bottle 
like a preserving bottle, and the flies that will collect in 
immense numbers during summer may be caught and 
emptied into the water. This trap will take many times 
its bulk of flies being kept set all the time and emptied 
when any one is passing it. Flies are probably the best 
food that can be given to trout. 

Shad eggs differ essentially from trout eggs and re- 
quire wholly different manipulation. They are much 
smaller and lighter. If a trout or salmon egg is dropped 
into water it sinks at once to the bottom, but a shad egg 
will almost float, and has but little more specific gravity 
that the water itself. Shad eggs are less than half the 
size of trout eggs, and require as their best condition for 
hatching a temperature of from sixty-five to seventy-five 
degrees. They will hatch at a lower temperature, but in 
such cases mature slowly, while eighty degrees of heat is 
as much as they can endure. When experiments were 
first made in their artificial propagation, they were placed 
in ordinary trout troughs, and much trouble was found 
in their management. If a current of water was turned 
on to the same extent as with trout, they all washed over 
the end of the troughs, while if the supply was diminish- 
ed so that they retained their places, they died of suffo- 
cation. It was only after many different devices had 
been tried that the proper invention was discovered — a 
simple box with the bottom knocked out and replaced by 
a wire gauze netting. This box is suspended by floats of 
wood nailed on the sides, so that the bottom is presented 
at an angle to the current, the degree of inclination being 



PKOPAGATION OF FISH. 255 

determined by the velocity of the current. The water 
striking against the screen enters the minnte interstices, 
and lifting the eggs, keeps them in gentle motion like 
the bubbles of air in a pot of moderately boiling water. 
All that is necessary is to attach these boxes one behind 
the other in a long row, anchor them in the river, and 
fill them with impregnated spawn, and the work is done. 
The continuous motion of the water passing around 
each egg and holding it suspended, aerates it perfectly 
and makes its hatching a certainty. Hardly one per cent, 
of healthy eggs fail to hatch, and while the process is go- 
ing on hardly any care or attention is required. Fish 
and eels cannot enter the boxes to prey, nor can the 
eggs be driven out by the water, and lost. 

In the artificial manipulation of shad the parents are 
taken in seines from their spawning beds. The haul is 
made at night, at which time only can ripe fish be found 
in any considerable number. The captured fish are 
thrown indiscriminately into a boat and are stripped at 
once as they die quickly. They are afterwards sold in 
the markets. The eggs, which are caught in a pan with 
a little water in it, after being allowed to stand for a few 
minutes until impregnation is complete, which is sig- 
nified by their swelling in size and reducing the tempera- 
ture of the water some ten degrees, are poured into the 
hatching boxes and left to themselves. Nothing more is 
required. In twenty-four hours the black eyes of the 
young fry will be visible through the shell, and in from 
three to ten days they will be hatched. 

Black bass is one of the most prolific varieties of our 
fresh-water fish. Their natural increase is so great and 
their growth so rapid, that it has never been an object to 



256 PROPAGATION OF FISH. 

fish culturists to attempt their artificial propagation. 
When the spawning season draws near, they select, guid- 
ed by natural instinct, with great care for the purpose of 
propagation, certain portions of the river having a pebbly 
or gravelly bottom. From these they remove carefully 
all sediment, weeds, and sticks. This work completed, 
leaves a clear bright space in the bottom of the river, 
circular in form, and having a diameter of about three 
feet. These beds are readily distinguished by the casual 
observer from the ordinary bottom of the river by their 
brightness, the gravel having the appearance of being 
washed or scoured. "When the parent fish are ready to 
spawn, the female goes upon this prepared bed and de- 
posits her spawn in a glutinous band or ribbon, running 
in various directions across the bed. She is followed by 
the male who impregnates the eggs by the expression of 
his milt. 

Their care of the young (the exercise of which is pecu- 
liar to the bass, sunfish, and catfish), taken in connection 
with the fact that a large pair of bass will dej)osit twenty 
thousand eggs, will give some idea of their fertility. 
Possibly the fish are capable of reproduction when two 
years old, having at that time attained the extraordinary 
length of eight or nine inches, but this is mere conjec- 
ture, based more particularly upon our knowledge of the 
size and weight of the fish at that age. They frequently 
attain the weight of five and six pounds ; in rare instances 
seven and eight. They are unsurpassed in flavor by any 
of the perch family. 

The black bass loves bright, pure, lively water, not as 
cold as the trout streams of our spring-producing hills 
and mountains, but free from foul matters held suspended 



PEOPAGATION OF FISH. 257 

in it, and with, motion either of current or from the 
winds. It deposits its eggs on rocky or pebbly ledges. 
The parents guard and protect their nests till the young 
are hatched, and even watch over the latter till they can 
take care of themselves. The fish generally selected for 
transfer are from one to three years old, measuring from 
three to twelve inches in length. Fish of this size are 
not only more numerous, but they bear transportation 
better, and are more readily acclimated than when larger. 
They are moved with a great deal of difficulty in hot 
weather, especially when the journey requires more than 
twelve or fifteen hours ; but with care and skill no serious 
loss need take place. 

The implements of the fish-culturist are few and simple. 
A few feathers may be kept on hand to use in spreading 
the eggs when placing them in the troughs, in collecting 
them for packing, and moving them in the search after 
dead eggs. Nippers made of wire or some elastic wood, 
like red cedar, bent or cut into the shape of the letter U, 
elongated to about six inches, and with loops of wire at 
the ends about the eighth of an inch wide, will hold an 
egg without trouble. A small homoeopathic phial is used 
to examine the eggs. The manner of its use is, to fill it 
with water, put in the eggs to be examined, cork it, hold 
it up before the window in a horizontal position, and 
with your microscope look up through the side of the 
phial. This brings the egg which lies at the bottom of 
the glass within the focus of the microscope, and the 
water does not distort its shape. The microscope need 
not be very strong ; one magnifying eight or ten diameters 
is amply sufficient. A small net will be of use in remov- 
ing the young fish and any refuse in the water from the 



258 PROPAGATION OF FISH. 

troughs ; it should be about six inches in diameter, in the 
shape of the letter D, with the handle on the middle of the 
bend. It is very easily made by bending a wire in the 
desired shape, and twisting the two ends together for a 
handle. Thin gauze of some kind, like bobinet, should 
be spread over the wire so tightly that the middle of the 
net shall hang only a half inch below the level. An iron 
spoon, well tinned or silvered, is used to remove the eggs. 
Some six-quart tin milk-pans will be necessary, for a 
variety of purposes. Eggs may be counted most easily by 
measuring them. For this purpose take any small glass, 
such as a very small tumbler, for instance, count out five 
hundred or a thousand eggs, and with a file make a mark 
upon the glass as high as they reach, and the measure is 
always ready to your hand. 

A watering pot with a fine rose spout is used to wash 
sediment from the eggs on the sieves, and a broom of twigs 
is used to brush the screens of wire. 

One of the most curious and interesting results of fish- 
culture has been the production of hybrids, some of which 
were reproductive and have thus created new species. 
Strange as it may seem, these experiments have rarely 
been wholly abortive ; no matter how dissimilar the fam- 
ilies, the eggs have been impregnated often to a large per- 
centage, and have hatched. The following varieties have 
been crossed : 

FEMALE. MALE. 

Salmon-trout with White-fish. 

*' " " Brook-trout. 

Brook-trout " Fresh-water Herring. 

11 " " California Salmon. 

" " " " Mountain-trout. 

Shad " Striped Bass. 

" " Herring. 



PROPAGATION OF FISH. 



259 



It is observable of all hybrids that they are shy and 
wild; more so usually than either of their parents, and 
that in appearance they favor their larger parent. The 
cross between the brook-trout and lake-trout has been 
repeated from year to year, till fish which are one-eighth 
salmon-trout and seven-eighths brook-trout have been 
produced which it is hoped will have the size and tough- 
ness of the mother, with the beauty and gameness of the 
father. 

These experiments commenced with a cross of the 
brook-trout and California salmon, which had an interest- 
ing and instructive termination, and prepared the way by 
its failure for subsequent successes. 

In September, 1879, the young of the brook-trout and 
California salmon were seen to be maturing their eggs. 
This was the first time in the history of fish culture that hy- 
brids gave evidence of breeding. It is asserted that among 
animals, mules are occasionally known to produce young, 
but this is a most unusual exception to a general rule. No 
more was expected from the experiments in crossing^ va- 
rieties than the production of combinations which might 
be valuable in themselves, like the capons among fowls, 
or the mules among draught animals, but which must of 
necessity be purely ephemeral, and perishing with the 
lives of the individuals. But when these hybrid trout- 
salmon were opened and found to contain eggs quite large 
and well forward in maturity, it seemed possible that 
new species might be created and made permament. The 
eggs were already larger than the mature eggs of the 
trout, although it was then early in the season, and seem- 
ed perfectly healthy. As time passed the parents were 
watched with care, and were soon seen to be going into 



260 PROPAGATION OF FISH. 

the spawning-race. They apparently made all their prep- 
arations for spawning, began digging their nests, stayed 
about them, and proceeded in the regular way, except 
that they were never in pairs, but always single. This 
was not natural, and led to a careful examination of them 
individually. After examining some fifty out of the 
sixty, the conclusion was reached that they were all fe- 
males, which eventually turned out to be the case. This 
was in the latter part of November, IS 79. Some dozen 
male brook-trout were then placed among the hybrids, to 
see if they would induce the latter to spawn. Everything 
soon appeared favorable for this result, the trout paired 
with the trout-salmon, they entered the race-way together, 
and occupied themselves with parental duties, but no re- 
sults were perceived. For some reason the spawn was 
not deposited. Then some of the fish were selected to be 
stripped by hand, and were found to be ripe, but the eggs 
were all crushed in passing from them. The vent of the 
ovaries or ovaduct was too small to allow the eggs, 
which had delicate shells, to pass. Attempts were then 
made to enlarge the vent, and some thousands of eggs 
were finally obtained in this way uninjured. To impreg- 
nate these the milt of the male trout was used. The par- 
ent fish were left in their pond and seemed to be uneasy. 
They were doubtless incommoded by the eggs which they 
could not pass, and moved about slowly with their heads 
towards the bottom, their tails upward, and their bodies 
at an angle to the surface. The eggs which it was hoped 
might be impregnated by hand, were retained until Jan- 
uary 25, 1880, when it was found they were unimpreg- 
nated and dead, and they were thrown away. 

Thus two extraordinary facts were ascertained, one that 



PROPAGATION OF FISH. • 261 

the eggs may be too large for extrusion in case the male 
parent is the larger variety of fish, and the other that 
the entire body of one hatching may be of a single 
sex as in this case when all were females, and in the 
case of the shad and herring in the Hudson River, which 
are all said to be males. It was on these two discoveries 
that subsequent improvements were founded. It is not 
yet positively determined that these cross-breeds will pro- 
create their species in a natural way, nor even that they 
will be the improvement, which has been hoped, but that 
they can be bred artificially there is no further doubt. 

An indirect result of fish-culture has been the intro- 
duction of foreign fish into home waters. The German 
carp has been brought to America, and has increased and 
multiplied vastly, and been found well adapted to certain 
waters, which are not valuable for finer fish. In dull, 
muddy, small ponds, they have not only lived, but they 
have grown to a remarkable size. We have also received 
some German trout, which hatched and grew well, and 
which promise finely for the future. Then we have sent 
our black-bass to Europe as well as our trout, the Califor- 
nia trout and salmon. We have acclimated in California 
the Eastern shad, and imported from California the trout 
and salmon of that country. This interchange has been 
mutually advantageous and promises to be much more so 
in the future. The results of fish-culture have indeed far 
exceeded the most sanguine hopes of those who first took 
it up, and at present there seem to be no limits to its ben- 
eficial effects. The time will surely come when the 
streams, which have been so long utterly depopulated of 
their natural inhabitants will once more be restocked and 
yield as abundantly as ever. This has already happened 



262 • PROPAGATION OP FISH. 

with the Connecticut River, which from having been al- 
most exhausted, has been so succesfully restocked that it 
produced in one year more shad than had ever been caught 
from it since records had been kept. The Hudson River 
had been also rendered nearly worthless as a shad river 
when fish-culture was first applied to it, the nets were be- 
ing taken up and the fisheries abandoned, the price of 
even small shad had risen so as to exclude them from all 
but the tables of the rich, whereas now the yield is nearly 
as numerous as ever, and much larger fish are taken. So 
while neglected Southern rivers are exhausted, the North- 
ern ones are being replenished. The same will follow with 
the fresh waters. If the trout brooks have become too 
warm from the destruction of the forests, other varieties, 
such perhaps as the California trout will be substituted. 
There are millions of just such streams and ponds, which 
are now nearly valueless^ but which could be made quite 
as valuable as the same amount of land. These will yet 
all be replenished till the streams and ponds will come to 
be regarded as the most valuable part of the farm or 
country place, and millions of property will be added to 
the wealth of the country.* 

* For thorough instruction in the details of the artificial cultivation of all varie- 
ties of fish, the reader is referred to a work entitled " Fish Hatching and Fish 
Catching" written by Seth Green and Robert B. Roosevelt which exhausts the en« 
tire subject. 



FLIES. 




FLIES AND KNOTS. 263 



CHAPTER XXVII. 



FLIES AND KNOTS. 



It is generally considered that fly-making cannot be 
taught by written instruction, but this depends some- 
what on the intelligence of the scholar, who must not 
undertake to conceive the result before he has waxed his 
thread, but should be content to follow the directions 
word by word. At all events there is something that 
the experienced, and an immense deal that the partially 
instructed beginner may add to his store of knowledge, 
and if the following directions will not make a novice 
perfect, they may aid him when he has had a few per- 
sonal lessons. To tie a fly, the gut should be singed in a 
candle or bitten at one end, and the hook and thread 
waxed to insure the hook's not coming off, which, when 
a fine fish has it in his mouth, is a heart-rending casualty. 
Take a few turns with the thread on the shank of the 
bare hook, nearly to the head, then applying the gut, 
whip it firmly on by working back to the bend ; under 
the last turns at the bend insert whisks for the tail dub- 
bing, floss or herl fpr the body, and tinsel if desired. 
The floss, silk and dubbing are generally spun or twisted 
in with the thread, and then wound back toward the 
shoulder, but they may be wound on before, with, or 
after the thread. Care must be taken that the turns 



264 FLIES AND KNOTS. 

at the bend be firm, and when the material is earned 
back, the body is finished with a couple of turns of the 
silk, a hackle is then introduced under them and firmly 
ly secured. "Wind the hackle round the hook at the 
place where it is inserted, and when it is sufficiently 
thick, and the fibres which constitute the legs stand out 
well, tie it down. Prepare your wings by stripping off 
the requisite number of fibres, and tie them on, either 
single or divided, and finish off. To make a buzz-fly, 
that is, one with the hackles the whole length of the 
body instead of only at the shoulder, insert a hackle at 
the bend at the same time with the body and tail, and 
twist it round the body after that is put on, and fasten it 
at the shoulder. The wings are sometimes laid on point- 
ing up the shank, and afterward bent down and brought 
in their places. And thus, if any one desires, he may 
make a fly. 

Few people in this stage of civilization dress their own 
trout flies, and although skill in the art will enable you 
to make a better selection in your purchases, it is rarely 
useful at the riverside. The better plan is to have a great 
variety, keep them safe from moths by the use of a linen 
bag, and fish often enough to prevent the gut's decaying. 
I have flies that have been in my possession for fifteen 
years, and yet seem to be as good as ever. You would 
require a knapsack to keep all the articles requisite to 
dress every fly, and would waste half your day in the 
operation. ISTor is it yet settled that by imitating the 
natural insect you gain any advantage ; one half the most 
skillful fishermen assert that the fly, as for instance, the 
scarlet ibis, need resemble nothing on earth, or in the 



FLIES AND KNOTS. 265 

waters under the earth, and that the sharp-sighted fish are 
never deceived by thinking ours the natural insect, bui 
take him for some new and undescribed species. As for 
myself, to use the quaint language of the editor of the 
" Knickerbocker," " sometimes I think so, and then again 
I don't, but mostly 1 do." On certain occasions it would 
seem that the closer the imitation the better, on others the 
less the similarity the greater the success. Upon this 
question my friends stand like the hackle on a well- 
dressed fly, " every which way." At any rate, it is no 
time to be dubbing when you ought to be fishing, and 
if you cast a long line and a light fly and the fish will 
not rise, you may be sure they will not. 

The various flies that appear upon the surface of the 
numerous and varying waters of our country, from the 
borders of Mexico to the confines of Labrador, would fur- 
nish the subject for an instructive and interesting work. 

The natural flies, whether hatched from the caddis at 
the bottom of the streams, or from the burrows in the 
ground, or the knots on the limbs, or the cocoons amid 
the leaves of trees, are more numerous than those of any 
European country. As a class, they are larger, the 
ephemerae especially, and although often found to be 
similar in general appearance, furnish many species 
unknown there. They have never been properly de- 
scribed and classified, and no satisfactory work has been 
written, at all thorough and reliable, in which an attempt 
is made to record their nature and habits. 

Many of them do not return every year, but seem to 
require several seasons to mature, and the earliest fly of 
one season may not be that of another. Every observant 



266 rLIES AND KN0TS - 

fisherman lias noticed flies at one time that he may not 
see again for a long period, and has found his imitations 
of them perfectly useless. 

The first tree that puts forth leaves in the spring is the 
maple, and its buds are a bright scarlet. As they drop 
into and are swept along the surface of the water by the 
wind, the fish seize them, no doubt either decoyed by 
their appearance or attracted by insects that may be con- 
cealed upon or within them. The scarlet ibis resembles 
these buds nearer than any other known thing, and is 
probably mistaken by the fish for them. 

When commencing this work, it had been my inten- 
tion not only to describe the artificial flies in general 
request, but to give the habits, periods and names of the 
natural ones of which they were imitations, without 
which latter information the former would have been far 
from complete. But the obstacles in my way were so 
numerous, the confusion existing as to names, localities, 
and times of appearance was so utter, the difficulty of 
finding any satisfactory work on the natural insects so 
great, that I was almost in despair ; on the point, how- 
ever, of making the attempt, rash aa it appeared, I was 
informed that the matter had been undertaken by a friend 
of mine, who is every way equal to the task. Although 
much relieved, there was still something to be done to 
give a general idea of the flies in use with us. On this 
subject, the only work existing of any value is the sup- 
plement to Frank Forester's " Fish and Fishing," written 
by a gentleman who is a thorough sportsman, and along- 
side of whom I have often had the pleasure of casting 
the fly. The directions in the body of that work itself, 



FLIES AND KNOTS. 267 

liko many other parts of it, are copied from the English 
writers, and in our waters are utterly valueless. The 
author, although a splendid sportsman, was not as an 
angler acquainted with our trout streams and ponds, and 
the contributor of the supplement judged rather too 
exclusively from his experience on Long Island. 

The first and most striking difference to be observed 
between the systems of the two countries is in the com- 
parative size of the flies, those of America, following the 
natural insect, being larger, and, probably for a similar 
reason, gaudier. It is a remarkable fact that the most 
gaudy of all, the scarlet ibis, is prominently successful 
alone in the streams of Long Island and of the British 
Provinces. As many of the Long Island trout yearly 
migrate to the sea, in which peculiarity they resemble 
the fish of the latter place, it may be that this fly is only 
a favorite with sea-going fish. A little tinsel wound 
round the body is supposed to improve its efficiency, as 
some fishermen suggest from a resemblance to the prin- 
cipal "Winter food of the trout, the salt water minnow. 

The earliest fly on the Long Island ponds is a dark 
water fly, with a brownish red body and legs, and black, 
filmy, transparent wings. It is rather large, is wafted 
along upon and occasionally rises from the water, and 
never appears in any considerable numbers. It is usually 
represented by the English or female cow-dung, which, 
although not similar in coloring, presents somewhat the 
same general appearance. The wings, being transparent, 
should not be imitated with a black feather, although I 
have had great success when these flies were on the water 
with a fly that had black wings and a claret body and 



268 FLIES AND KNOTS. 

legs. The orange dim, with a body tinged with brown, 
would be a good imitation. 

The next natural fly, which is smaller than the last, is 
of a greenish yellow, and is also caricatured by the cow- 
dung. But it is decidedly recommended to make a more 
faithful copy, which the writer has done with eminent 
success. In speaking of this matter, it is important to 
add that the midges, such as the black gnat and others, 
are out earlier, and it is to the larger flies alone that 
reference is made. The earliest of the species mentioned 
appears in ordinary seasons about the first of March, and 
the next about a week later. At this period, and at all 
periods, of a bright day a large black gnat with black 
hackle, black or dark blue body, silver tinsel at the tail, 
and dark wings, is usually successful. 

Shortly after the greenish fly, come many others, 
appearing almost together, and among them the cow- 
dung and the yellow sally, the latter occasionally fairly 
covering the water. About this time the professor an 
swers well, although I have never discovered its proto- 
type, if it has any, and shortly afterward an unimitated 
brown fly, together with the blue blow and cinnamon, and 
in warm weather innumerable others. In the latter part 
of April and early part of May, the bushes and streams 
are alive with the gay little beauties, of every color, size 
and shape, and the fish make them their principal food. 
But the waters are growing clear, the deception is becom- 
ing apparent to the fish's eye, and the insects, though in 
reality larger, must have more delicate substitutes. At 
such times a small red bodied fly, with dun wings, has 
proved extremely killing, and although large, white, 



FLIES AND KNOTS. 269 

gelatinous ephemerae swim upon the water, the midges 
are on quiet days the most successful ; and when the sky 
is bright, subdued colors are in principal demand. 

In June there are prominent, among many others, 
the black fly, with body, wings, legs and antennae all of 
the same sable hue, busy the entire day dancing over the 
water a veritable dance of death, for it is often terminat- 
ed by the fatal rush of the watchful trout ; a dun fly, 
with greyish dun mottled wings, grey legs, and light 
green body ; another fly with similar wings, but red 
legs, and a rich brown body — none of these having any 
whisks in their tails ; another beautiful and delicate yel- 
low fly, that appears generally in the morning and eve- 
ning, and flies heavily and slowly from place to place, 
till it falls suddenly, and is forever submerged in the 
cruel waters. Its legs, body and wings are yellow, the 
latter being the palest, and it has two short whisks and 
antennae of the same color. All the foregoing have four 
wings, in the black and yellow varieties strongly reticu- 
lated, and all but the last swim well under water. Tow- 
ard night a frail whitish fly makes its appearance still 
more fragile than its yellow compeer ; it has two wings, 
a thick body and long whisks. The eyes of the yellow 
and white fly are black spots, and although I never have 
done much with a white fly, a small yellowish drake was 
successful when the yellow flies were abundant. A bet- 
ter imitation however could be made of pure yellow. 

On one occasion I was struck with the fact that 
although I did not know these insects were on the water, 
my only successful flies were a yellowish fly, a green- 
bodied, dun winged fly, and a similar fly with a brown 



270 FLIES AND KNOTS. 

body, and I hit on them accidentally after trying a great 
variety. 

Hackles, in our Long Island ponds, are, by universal 
testimony, a failure, and the palmers worthless; and 
throughout the breadth and length of our country, the 
winged flies are vastly preferable. The hackles and 
palmers are intended to represent the caterpillars, which 
our fish very sensibly ignore alongside of the innumer- 
able beautiful, delicate and gaudy flies,, and which under 
no circumstances are found except in the fresh-water 
brooks. Through all the early Spring, the stomachs 
of the trout will be found filled with the shells of the 
caddis, and these, if they could be obtained, would 
doubtless be a killing bait. Fortunately they cannot be, 
and are not to my knowledge used here at all. 

In our mountain streams the fish are generally 
extremely numerous, though small, and will eagerly 
seize any fly presented to them, vying with one another 
to be first. The following is a good assortment, and will, 
in addition to those already mentioned, be sufficient for 
all waters : The alder-fly, English partridge hackle, 
hackles of all colors, red and black ants, the devil-fly 
with a yellow body, the tail of one red and one black 
whisk, black hackles and red and black wings, dark 
mackerel, red spinner, English blue jay, fern-fly, orange 
dun, the camlets of various colors, grey, dun and black 
nidges, the coachman, the stone-fly, the May-flies, 
millers for night-work, the sand-fly, the various other 
duns, the turkey brown, and a large light grey fly. 

As each maker employs different colors and feathers 
for the same fly, these descriptions are rather indefinite • 



FLIES AND KNOTS. 271 

but by taking a number of various shades, you can rea- 
dily select the most effective. The well-known flies should 
be dressed after Ronalds as far as practicable. It is to 
be regretted that there is not more uniformity and pride 
n, or practical acquaintance with, the subject among our 
principal tackle-makers. With the English makers it 
has always been an especial care that their flies should 
be dressed well and with uniformity ; but here, anything 
that can be palmed off on an ignorant or indulgent pub- 
lic, or a barbarous country trade, is all that is desired. 
It is better always to send a pattern, with instructions to 
copy it precisely, and that no originality of variation 
will be permitted. Then, and then only, can you obtain 
what you wish. So much for trout-flies. 

To make a salmon-fly, the following additional direc- 
tions, most of which apply equally to carefully made 
trout-flies, will be found convenient. Tie on the gut as 
before directed ; upon reaching the bend, fasten the 
spring pliers on to the thread, and do not take them off 
till the fly is finished. Take two turns with the silk over 
a strip of tinsel, pass the latter several times round the 
hook to form the tag, fasten it with the silk and cut it 
off; introduce the floss for the tip, take several turns 
evenly, tie it down and cut off the end ; introduce the 
tail and then a piece of herl, wind the herl at the root 
of the tail and fasten it ; take in a new piece of tinsel 
and a hackle by rubbing back all the fibres but a few at 
the point; leave both pointing from the head. Take a 
small piece of mohair between your fingers, break it over 
and over again into small pieces, lengthen it out and twist 
it round the silk toward the left, as otherwise it will 



s»7-> 



"FLIES AND KNOTS. 



unlay in winding; wind the silk and mohair together 
round the shank to the shoulder, leave a space of bare 
hook sufficient for the wings. Wind in loose coils 
first the tinsel and then the hackle, and fasten both at 
the shoulder. Strip two wings from feathers that have 
been taken from the opposite sides of the bird, place 
them together, hold them firmly on the hook with the 
left forefinger and thumb, and fasten them securely. 
Cut off the ends, insert a piece of herl, wind it over the 
head and tie it down. Lay the end of the silk back 
down the shank, and take three turns with the other 
part over silk, hook and gut ; pass the gut end through 
the loop three times and draw the silk tight. Two turns 
of silk should hold the different parts during the entire 
operation, and a couple of half hitches under the wings 
at the shoulders are sometimes used to fasten off. The 
feathers should be mated to make neat wings, and if 
they are laid right side out they will close round the 
hook ; if otherwise, they will stand out. Do not fail to 
varnish at the head with wood varnish, or some other 
kind that will dry rapidly. The hackle may be intro- 
duced at the shoulder. Where herl or floss is used for 
the body, it is wound on separately from the tying silk, 
which is sometimes passed in loose coils afterward. A 
second hackle of a different color, or a feather wound 
like a hackle, may be introduced after the first, or after 
the wings and before the head is finished, and is called 
the legs. The wings must be tied above the dubbing on 
the hook, or they are liable to turn, especially where 
floss silk is used for the body. 

The following is a list of Canadian salmon flies, copied 



FLIES AND KNOTS. 273 

from the work on Salmon Fishing in the Provinces, 
edited by Colonel Alexander, supposed to be by Dr. 
Adamson, with two of my own added ; the latter having 
been furnished by a friend of extended experience, are 
warranted excellent : 

No. 1. Louise. — An extremely beautiful fly, having 
wings conrposed of the golden pheasant's top-knot, breast 
feather and tail, with sprigs from the green parrot, blue 
macaw and kingfisher; the body is of fiery brown mo- 
hair, with gold twist; the head of orange mohair; the 
tail, a single feather from the golden pheasant's top-knot ; 
reddish-brown hackle and jay legs. 

No. 2. Edwin. — A much simpler fly and often equally 
efficacious among the fins, the wings being composed of 
the golden pheasant's tail feather with a dash of yellow 
macaw ; the body, yellow mohair ; ribs, of black silk ; 
head, black mohair; tail, golden pheasant's top-knot; 
hackle, yellow ; and scarlet silk tip. 

No. 3. Forsyth. — Wings of the yellow macaw, with a 
slight dash of mallard wings at each side ; yellow mohair 
body, with black ribs ; head, black ; tail, golden phea- 
sant's top-knot ; hackle, yellow, with light blue silk tip. 

No. 4. Stephens. — "Wings of golden pheasant's breast 
feather, with slight mixture of mallard ; body of reddish 
brick-colored silk, gold twist ; head, black ostrich ; tail, 
golden pheasant's top-knot; hackle, red, to match the 
body ; tip, blue silk. 

No. 5. Eoss. — Wings of mallard and peacock's herl; 
body, cinnamon-colored silk, gold twist ; no head ; tail, 
green parrot ; red and black hackles and black tip. 

No. 6. The Parson. — This is a beautiful and efficient 

12 



274 



FLIES AXD KXOTS. 



fly. The wings are mixed, and very similar to 1hose of 
No. 1, but have a slight mixture of wood duck in them ; 
the body is of very dark claret silk, with gold twist; 
head, black ostrich; tail, golden pheasant's top-knot; 
hackle dark claret ; legs, blue, with a tip of yellow and 
gola 

No. 7. Stkachan. — Mixed wings, chiefly of golden 
pheasant's tail, yellow macaw and jay's wing ; body of 
crimson silk w T ith gold twist ; head, black ostrich ; tail, 
golden pheasant ; black hackle, with jay's wing legs ; tip, 
yellow and gold. 

No. 8. Langevin. — Wings, body, tail, hackle, legs, tip 
all yellow, made of the dyed feathers of the white goose ; 
the head of black ostrich, and the twist of black silk. 

No. 9. Whitciiee. — Mixed wings, of mallard and 
hooded merganser, the latter being like the teal wing, 
only more of a yellowish green, or the tail of the golden 
pheasant may be used ; head, black ostrich herl ; black 
hackle and black mohair body, with a thin rib of silver ; 
tip, yellow silk ; and tail from the top-knot of the golden 
pheasant. 

No. 10. Grey Fly. — Mixed wings, of mallard, tur- 
key, golden pheasant's neck and top-knot, and sprigs of 
blue macaw ; head of black ostrich heel ; legs, carmine ; 
grey hackle ; body of a grey mohair, with silver ribs, and 
tip of silver and deep orange silk ; tail, mixed grey mal- 
lard and tail of the golden pheasant. 

It will be observed that the foregoing are not imita- 
tions of any natural insect, but merely fanciful combina- 
tions of beautiful colors. The more harmonious the tints 
the finer the effect. Some of them are gay flies, gaudiei 



FLIES AND KNOTS. 



275 



than I should recommend ; modest colors suit the sal- 
mon as they do the ladies of our country. For the rivers 
of New Brunswick more particularly, I would add the 
following, requesting the reader to bear in mind that 
larger and more brilliant flies are permitted among the 
rougher waters and heavier fish of the Canadas. 

No. 11. Nicholson. — Wings mallard with sprigs of 
blue macaw ; body, blood-red mohair, head of black 
ostrich herl ; hackles, one blood reel and one dark blue 
wound on together ; gold ribs and tip ; tail, mallard and 
golden pheasant neck. This is one of the best flies ever 
cast on the Miramichi or Nipisiquit, and is simple and 
inexpensive. 

No. 12. Chamberlain. — Turkey wing, the lighter and 
darker fibres mixed, or turkey and mallard ; head, black 
ostrich herl ; orange mohair body and hackle, yellow 
legs, silver or gold ribs and tip and black silk twist ; tail 
of golden pheasant top-knot. 

No 13. Darling. — Wings of turkey and golden phea- 
sant neck feather and sprigs of blue macaw ; head, black 
ostrich ; hackles, black along the stem, but with reddish 
ends ; tip, orange silk ; tail, golden pheasant top-knot ; 
thin gold ribs and tag and black mohair body. 

No. 14. Major. — Wings of mallard and turkey with 
sprigs of blue macaw ; head ; claret herl ; light red 
hackle, and orange legs ; body, deep purple mohair; tip, 
blue silk : tail, golden pheasant neck feathers ; ribs and 
tag gold tinsel. 

No. 15. Captain. — Wings of turkey and golden phea- 
sant tail and neck feathers and sprigs of blue macaw : 
head claret herl ; red hackle ; body, claret mohair ; tip 



276 FLIES AND KNOTS. 

orange silk ; silver tag, gold ribs, and tail of golden 
pheasant top-knot. 

!No. 16. Cariboo. — Wings of turkey and mallard with 
sprigs of macaw, and a few fibres from the golden phea- 
sant's neck ; head of black ostrich herl ; claret legs ; 
grey hackle ; body of grey cariboo hair or mohair ; lowei 
part of tip golden yellow silk, and upper part black silk ; 
tail, golden pheasant top-knot, and gold tag. This fly, 
with various modifications, is extensively used by the 
resident fishermen of Fredericton. 

No. 17. Emmet. — JSTo head ; wings of black and golden 
pheasant neck feather with sprigs of macaw ; body, black 
mohair ; black hackle ; gold tip and twist ; a turn of 
black herl taken just above the tail, which is golden 
pheasant crest. 

No. 18. Lillie. — Wings and tail dark grey turkey ; 
body, mohair of the same dull color ; yellow silk tip ; 
red hackle, and no head. This is almost identical with 
the stone fly, and approximates in color to the natural 
fly, and is generally dressed on a small hook. 

There is no limit to the list of salmon flies that might 
be given ; artistic beauty is a great point to be gained, 
but further than that nothing is positively ascertained 
on the subject. I was once visiting a well known salmon 
river with fifty dozen flies loaned to me by an excellent 
angler who was one of the oldest habitues of the stream. 
Another excellent fisherman looked over my books with 
an unapproving air, and after my return tolcl me that 
he was surprised I had taken any fish at all, for my flies 
were totally unsuited to the river. It is, however, gene- 
rally conceded that different waters require different 



FLIES AND KNOTS. 277 

flies, and those in vogue in Canada are much gayer than 
those of ]N"ew Brunswick. In Great Britain it was once the 
custom, as it still is in Wales, to use sombre colors ; in 
England and Ireland the gayest are now the rage ; per- 
haps it will be the same here, and in the end we-may 
find that handsome, gaudy featheis answer best. 

The turkey wing is of various colors, but where no 
other specific direction is given, the common mixture of 
black and brown is intended. Some sportsmen pretend 
to assimilate their flies to the sand-lance, others to the 
shrimp ; as the salmon obtain neither in fresh water, 
there is little to choose between, the plans. 

As will be seen, therefore, from the foregoing, salmon 
flies are much more complicated than trout flies, and 
require more skill in their manufacture. The wings are 
ordinarily made of numerous fibres, frequently of dis- 
tinct feathers, which are fastened separately upon one 
another, and usiially called toppings. The hook is often 
first tied securely with thick silk and then varnished, 
while a small loop instead of a length of gut is used. 
This is allowed to dry, and finer silk, usually the color 
of the intended fly, is employed to tie the feathers. 
Occasional fastenings may be made by taking a hitch 
over the whole, and varnish is applied, especially at the 
head and tail. After the hook is tied on, the silk is made 
fast at the bend, where the tinsel, the whisks, the body 
and the hackle are inserted ; the latter may, however, be 
introduced after several turns have been taken with the 
body, and the body may be divided into sections of 
various colors, in a manner that the least practice will 
render easy. 



278 FLIES AN1) KNOTS. 

It is no small matter to give a list of the requisite fly- 
making materials, but the following are a few of the 
most important : 

Silk of various colors, wax, nippers, scissors, a bench 
vice, picker, spring pliers, varnish, hooks and gut, tinsel 
of gold and silver, twisted and plain ; hackles of all 
colors, feathers of the mallard, teal, w r oodcock, golden, 
silver and argus pheasants, turkey, macaws, curlew, 
ruffed grouse, ibis, blue-jay, black-bird, fresh water rail, 
guinea fowl, common chicken, and any and all other 
birds that may come in the angler's way ; dubbings of 
mohair, pig's hair, wool, seal's far, rat's, mole's and squir- 
rel's fur ; floss silk of all colors, and peacock's and 
ostrich lierl. Dyed feathers had better be purchased of 
the tackle makers, and should include blue, purple, 
orange, yellow, brown, green, crimson and scarlet hackles, 
and yellow wing feathers. 

There is a Limerick hook now made with the shank 
turned over so as to form a loop into which the gut is 
inserted and the trouble of tying the gut is avoided. 
They have come into general use among the Irish and 
Scotch fishermen, and are a great aid to the man that 
ties his own flies. The gut in ordinary fly fishing wears 
out just above the hook, a difficulty that is entirely 
removed by this improvement, and it is by no means so 
ugly or ungainly as might be supposed. This is no new 
discovery, but has been practised with common Ameri- 
ican hooks for a considerable period, and might be 
advantageously used in many kinds of fishing, and ap- 
plied to all hooks. 

Hooks are numbered in the most singular manner, nc 



FLIES AND KNOTS. 



279 



two makers agreeing, and some indulging in remarkable 
eccentricities. But as Limerick hooks are generally 
used for fly-making, the numbers 2, 1, 1^, and 2 / will 
include all that is requisite. No. 1J- is my favorite for 
ordinary purposes, but a few % may be desirable in 
heavy water, with an occasional monster for foaming 
rapids. 

The charges for dressing trout flies in this country are 
exorbitant, whereas in England they can be purchased 
of the best makers at from seventy-five cents to a dollar 
and a half per dozen ; we are charged from a dollar and a 
half to three dollars, and generally furnished an inferior 
article. There is an abominable article of wholesale 
traffic sold for fifty cents a dozen, that is beneath any 
sportsman's notice. I have imported a great many, but 
it is a troublesome operation, and the best way is to bear 
the imposition meekly. 

The English and Irish salmon flies are, on the con- 
trary, expensive ; a great deal of the neck and top-knot 
of the golden pheasant and of the wings of the blue-jay 
is employed, birds which cost from ten to twenty-five 
dollars a piece, and which only furnish twenty to thirty 
pairs of each kind of feathers. The use, therefore, of 
several long crest and neck feathers at fifty cents a pair 
in the wing, and five or six from the top-knot for the 
tail, besides other expensive materials and the employ- 
ment of the best workmanship, will make a fly dear at 
the original cost. Blacker, the great English rod and 
fly maker, has been paid two guineas apiece for his 
finest. The reader may console himself by remembering 
that salmon were taken with the fly before the golden 



280 FLIES AND KNOTS. 

pheasant was heard of as one of the indispensable ingre 
clients. A little practice will enable the angler to make 
flies himself, and add to his sport the consciousness of 
invention. 

Except in that way, and except for salmon fishing, the 
sportsmen of our country have no time to waste tying 
flies. The regular shops charge a heavy profit over the 
amount paid the workman, and if the purchaser is capa- 
ble of telling a good fly, the best plan is to go direct to 
the latter, explain what is wanted, and show an interest 
in the proceeding. A half dozen of each of the fore- 
going specimens, firmly fastened on strong, round, even 
gut, will last two months' daily salmon fishing in well- 
stocked streams. An average loss of four or five a day 
would be by no means surprising, although a single one 
might kill a great many fine fish. Hooks are apt to be 
broken at the bend by striking against a rock, from care- 
lessness, or the awkward handling of too long a line. If 
you find a hook broken in that way, lay it primarily to 
this cause, and watch the sweep of your cast. 

After the fly is made, tying it on to the leader and the 
leader to the line is an important matter, and as it is 
always desirable to put the right knot in the right place, 
the following directions may do something toward ena- 
bling one to effect that object, and after a little practice 
will be found entirely intelligible. The gut lengths of 
the droppers should be short, to prevent their fouling 
round the leader. 

No. 1 and No. 2 are both good ties to fasten the 
leader to the line. No. 3 is a becket-hitch, and No. 4 a 
double becket-hitch. No. 5 is a single water knot. 



KNOTS. 



281 




282 FLlES AND KNOTS. 

No. 6 is a double water knot. The latter are used foi 
tying lengths of gut together. But recollect that before 
a knot is made in gut it must be wet, and had better be 
soaked for some time in warm water. In using the 
double knot, the ends need not be whipped down. 
No. 7 shows how a dandy fastens his droppers to the 
leader. No. 8 shows how a lazy man does the same 
thing. 

No. 10 is a reef, or square knot. No. 11 is a granny 
knot, and you had better not knot that knot as a reef 
knot at sea. The former never slips, and yet never jams ; 
the latter always slips and always jams. No. 12 is a 
bowline, the best knot of all. 

No. 13 is a wall. No. 14, a wall and crown ; follow 
the strands round with the ends, and it is a double wall 
and crown. No. 15, a Mathew Walker, is made by 
unlaying the strands a sufficient distance, and carrying 
one end underneath and through its own bight, then the 
next underneath through the bight of the first and its 
own bight, and then the third underneath through the 
bight of the first and second and then its own. No. 1 6 
shows the first strand passed ; No. 17 is the finished 
knot. A diamond knot, No. 18, is made by laying the 
strands back along the rope, then passing the first end 
over the second through the bight of the third, the 
second over the third and through the first, and so on 
drawing all tight. It may be crowned like a wall. 

No. 19 is a sheet bend. No. 20, a studding sail bend. 
No. 21, a rolling hitch. No. 22, a timber hitch. No. 23, 
a clove hitch. A whipping is put on as shown by No. 24, 
by first passing the turns over one end, and then the 



FLIES AND KNOTS. 



283 



other end under the last few turns, and drawing it close. 
]S"o. 25 is called a cat's paw. These knots will probably 
be sufficient without adding the hangman's knot, with 
its seven professional turns, and a choice among them 
will often be found convenient, while a glance at the cut 
will refresh an imperfect recollection. 

In tying flies or hooks, it is well to use varnish occa- 
sionally, in fact wherever it can be done without injur- 
ing the appearance of the colors ; no fly will last well 
that has not been varnished. In making the wings of 
salmon flies, it is usual to put on numerous fibres, often 
of different feathers, and tie them on separately. This 
renders the wings more pliable, but destroys their beauty 
and harmony. A number of inconsistent colors will 
injure the effect of one another; the contrast between 
body and wings should be decided, and the unity and 
coherence of the latter should be preserved. If the tip 
of the feather is used and fastened by the stem, it will 
slip unless firmly secured. There is great difference in 
the adhesion of the fibres of different feathers, but a lit- 
tlie practice will determine the selection. 

Black bass flies are generally made with a red body, 
gold twist, and wings of ibis and white, or black and 
white, or peacock's herl and white ; but a beautiful and 
effective fly is made as follows : wings, two plumes of 
the silver pheasant with two smaller ones of ibis over 
them ; body, blood-red mohair ; furnace hackle ; blue 
floss tip ; gold tag, and ibis tail. 

In salmon fishing it is customary to use but one fly, 
as two sixteen-pound fish would be troublesome to 
handle ; but occasionally a dropper is added at the 



284 



FLIES AND KNOTS. 



upper end of the casting line to attract their atten- 
tion. 

Three flies are sufficient for trout fishing, and are 
desirable, although frequently failing to hook the fish in 
consequence of lying on or close to the leader. This is 
in a measure prevented by short, stiff gut lengths, but 
when the rises are mainly at the upper flies, many will 
be missed. 

In this connection it may be well to mention that 
coloring gut, especially for bright, transparent waters, is 
an error ; remember the fish from below look at it 
against the sky, and will see it the plainer the more 
it is colored. The less distinguishable to the angler 
the more apparent it is to them. This can be proved 
without difficulty, by holding against the light two 
strands, one plain and the other colored. For salmon, 
it should, if single, be round and strong ; for trout, fine 
and delicate. 

* Since the above was written, immense strides have been made in this country 
in the manufacture of fine tackle, while the prices of many articles have been 
reduced. Our rods, reels and lines are the finest, in the world, nothing equal to a 
split-bamboo rod or an Imbrie reel being produced anywhere. Our lines, both for 
trout and bass, combine a fineness and strength unknown even in England, which 
is the birth-place and home of angling. 



• INSECTS. 285 



CHAPTEE XXVIII. 

INSECTS. 

There is nothing more beautiful, wonderful and inter- 
esting than insect life ; there is nothing that offers a 
wider field for examination or affords more gratify- 
ing results. Under the head of insects are classed, 
"in popular language, all the minute animals ; but 
only those having six legs and two antennge, and which 
undergo one or more changes or metamorphoses should 
be included ; most of them have wings, and their name 
is derived from the word insecta, divided, which is ap- 
plied to the divisions or articulations of their bodies. 
The outer part of their body is slightly bony, and to it 
the muscles are attached. 

Insects exist in myriads ; whole families are still 
undescribed, and many species unknown. Even in the 
old countries new discoveries are made yearly, and in the 
JS"ew "World it can hardly be said that anything is 
authenticated on the subject. Facts concerning the com- 
monest are most remarkable. One class of white ants, 
like our southern fellow countrymen, makes slaves of a 
darker race. Many beautiful flies live only a few hours. 
The eyes of the common house fly are composed of nu- 
merous surfaces or lenses, and their life, habits and 
instincts are a study in themselves. Being so numerous 



286 INSECTS. * 

and so nearly allied, their classification is entirely imper- 
fect, and like a similar attempt with any other part of 
animal life, a failure. Almost every scientific writer has 
invented a system of entomological distribution for him- 
self, and their united efforts have produced endless con- 
fusion ; the arrangement generally followed is that of 
Latreille, the father of modern entomology. 

Insects are by him divided into two great divisions : 
those that live by chewing, mandibulata, and those that 
live by sucking, haustellata, whence the name applied to 
some of the human family. Of the former the beetles, 
coleoptera, are prominent, and among the latter the 
butterflies, lejndojptera. It is to be observed that the 
bees, although furnished with a sucking apparatus. to 
collect honey, feed with mandibles, and are in the first 
class. 

Latreille further divides the various groups as follows ; 
and although English authors have made many changes, 
the alterations are of such doubtful utility that the origi- 
nal classification will be retained. 

The first class is that of insects without wings, such as 
the thysanura^ or those having a bushy tail, which are 
mandibulate. Parasites or lice, and fleas, both of which 
are suctional, the last having a metamorphose, but the 
first two not. All others have wings, but the second 
class includes those that have a hard covering or case, 
called an elytron, over their wings ; the beetles, which 
have a horny wing cover and perfect metamorphose ; the 
dermoptera, which have a horny wing cover but an im- 
perfect metamorphose ; the orthoptera, or straight-winged 
insects, their wings folding longitudinally, and having a 



INSECTS. 



287 



leathery cover — all of whicli are mandibulate ; and the 
hemiptera, which have the wings half leathery and half 
membranous, and the mouth suctorial, and in both of the 
latter the metamorphose is imperfect. In the third class 
the wings are naked and alike ; it includes the neuro- 
ptera, or nerve-winged insects, in which the veins of the 
wings are like a net ; the hymenoptera, the wings being 
membranous, and veined lengthwise — both families being 
mandibulate ; the lepidoptera, or scale-winged insects, 
having delicate scales on the wings — this order is sucto- 
rial, and the entire three orders have four wings ; the 
rhipiptera, which are mandibulate and have two balances 
or halteres before the wings which close like a fan, 
whence their name is derived, and the diptera, which have 
two halteres behind the wings — in these families there 
are only two wings. 

The orthoptera include, as familiar examples, cock- 
roaches, crickets, katydids, and grasshoppers ; the neuro- 
ptera white ants, May-flies, caddis-flies, dragon-flies or 
devil's darning needles, and hoodlbugs ; the hymenoptera 
common ants, wasps and bees ; the lepidoptera butter- 
flies, moths, silk-worms, and humming-birds ; the hemi- 
ptera plant lice, cochineals, and locusts ; the diptera mos- 
quitoes, house-flies, horse-flies, and bot-flies. 

The order hemiptera is frequently divided into two, 
according as the wings are of a uniform texture, homo* 
ptera, or of a varied texture, heteroptera; the lepidoptera 
are divided into three classes — those that fly by day, and 
generally have the antennas knobbed ; those that fly in 
the twilight and have the antennae thickened, and thoso 
that are nocturnal and have the antennae slender. The 



288 INSECTS. 

English writers have transposed the families griZlida 
and locustidm to snit the popular translation of the 
Scriptures, and have introduced a separate order called 
trichoptera. 

As they are principally minute objects, wise men 
wisely concluded the deficiency should be made up in 
length of name, and but one class appears under the 
weight of less than four syllables. The families compos- 
ing these orders are almost innumerable, and only those 
that are allied to the subject in hand can even be men- 
tioned. Amateur entomologists prefer the coleoptera for 
their beauty and variety, and collections of insects are 
mainly composed of brilliant, gaudy and wondrous bee- 
tles, varying in size from the giant, as large as the pretty 
fist of one of the reader's little female acquaintances, to 
the pigmy that is hardly perceptible to the eye. There 
is the beautiful and useful lady-bird, the wonderful light- 
ning-bug, the elephant beetle with trunk and tusks, the 
hercules with stout heavy limbs, the palm weevil, whose 
disgusting grubs are eaten as delicacies by the deluded 
people of St. Domingo, and many other dangerous look- 
ing fellows with long sharp snouts that are really harm- 
less, and innocent looking fellows that are really danger- 
ous. The fly-fisher, however, relies for his pleasure 
mainly upon his imitations of the neuroptera and diptera y 
and not so much upon the coleoptera. 

The young of the insect tribe, when it issues from tho 
shell in the shape of a worm, is known as the larva, 
although the larvas of some butterflies are called cater- 
pillars, and of certain flies maggots. When the larva 
begins its metamorphose it is named a pupa or chrysalis, 



INSECTS. 280 

and the covering with which it surrounds itself a pupa- 
case or cocoon. It then undergoes a wonderful change, 
becoming the full-formed insect or imago — the ugly 
worm, that a short time previous had surrounded itself 
with a silken cocoon, bursting its case and flying off a 
gay, attractive and resplendent butterfly. From crawl- 
ing meanly over the ground or the foliage, leaving a 
slimy streak behind, or horrible with a greenish smooth 
body and clinging feet, or disgusting with innumerable 
bristles, it soars away, its gay plumage glittering in the 
sunlight as it flits from flower to flower, the envy and 
admiration of the human female sex. How much is 
there not in beauty ! 

Many insects live for years as worms, and but a few 
hours in their perfect state. The ephemerae, so called 
from appearing in the morning and dying before night, 
often do not reach half that age, although if the sexes 
are separated they will sometimes attain the great age 
of several weeks. They may be regarded as sacrificing 
their lives for the tender passion. They cover our waters 
in Summer, w T armed into existence by the sun's rays, flit- 
ting in a graceful but inefficient way from place to place, 
or floating calmly upon the surface, dropping back into 
nonentity with the departing sunlight. They are some- 
times, especially in the southern country, quite large, and 
include what among fishermen are known as the May 
flies. 

In some classes the change from the larva is not so 
remarkable, the worm having much of the appearance, 
and many of the distinctive marks of the perfect fly, 
as for example the bee ; in these the metamorphose is 



290 INSECTS. 

said to be imperfect. The eyes of insects Are either 
compound, composed of numerous lenses, amounting in 
certain butterflies to thirty thousand, or simple, called 
stemmata,) the latter alone being found in the larvae, 
although in some of the beetles the larvae have eyes in 
the head and tail both. They are often long in matur- 
ing ; one species of locust, as is well known, remains 
seventeen years before coming to perfection, and many 
other families continue several years as larvae. Some of 
the larvae live in the earth, some in wood, and others 
under water ; some hide themselves in a cocoon ere their 
metamorphose is effected, others build houses of stones 
or sticks, others have no protection ; but all are wonder- 
ful. One swims upon the water, another walks upon its 
surface, a third crawls along at the bottom, although the 
majority live upon dry land. In defence they use a 
sting, simulate death, eject a poisonous liquid, or emit 
an offensive smell. The eggs mature in the running or 
stagnant water, in the ground, in the limbs of trees, in 
the foliage and stems, or in the fruit. Grasshoppers in 
the East, grubs among savages, snails among French- 
men, ants among Brazilians, locusts among prophets, 
and, if all reports are true, certain minute parasites 
among Italians, have furnished pleasing and nutritious 
food. 

But of all the marvels of insect life, that which is least 
consonant with nature and least credible to human 
understanding, is the fact that they appear spontaneously. 
Why should a few drops of rain in a dusty road produce 
animalculae never seen before ? Why should a little per- 
manent dirt originate two distinct parasites, according as 




"H ||W» r ' 



INSECTS. 



291 



it accumulates on the head or body ? "Why should new 
insects year after year make a perpetually changing 
warfare against the farmer's crops in gradation with the 
exhaustion of the soil ? Why should the Hessians bring 
the Hessian fly, or vice versa, as you please ? And a 
great many other "Whys which never have been and 
never will be answered till the " heavens shall be rolled 
up as a scroll." 

Insects feed voraciously on leaves, vegetables, fruit, on 
human blood — sacl to relate — and fortunately on one 
another. Mosquitoes, thank Heaven, have parasites that 
cling to the delicate rings of their bodies, stinging the 
arch-stinger, and inflicting by their venomous bites the 
same agonies the sufferers inflict on others. It is to be 
hoped those gentlemen will increase and multiply, and 
after exterminating mosquitoes may pay their addresses 
to the black gnats. Certain families, especially of the 
coleoptera, emit a species of phosphorescent light in the 
dark, occasionally light enough to read by. The majority 
of insects have wings, but many have not, and in some 
only one gender is winged. A few kinds, such as the 
locusts, katydids, crickets, death-ticks, emit sounds, to 
which man's sympathies have added either a pleasant or 
painful association, and produce these peculiar cries gen- 
erally by rubbing the wings or some part of the body. 
The wings of insects do not exceed four, and are often 
limited to two ; their legs are six ; some have antenna? 
or feelers, others long whisks from their tails. 

The neurojptera, or net-winged in sects, florfliegen, gauze* 
flies, as they are called by the Germans, include the 
principal pets of the fly-fisher. Their bodies are long, 



292 INSECTS. 

tapering and delicate ; their wings, ibur, almost transpa- 
rent and marked with net-like veins. They keep in 
continual motion for the purpose of catching smaller 
insects, on which they mainly feed, and generally deposit 
their eggs in the water, where the grubs live from one to 
two years on plants or other insects. 

That most fearful looking, but really harmless and bene- 
ficent creature, the devil's darning-needle, or dragon-fly, 
libeUula, is a remarkable specimen of this family. They 
are called demoiselles by the French, wasserjuvfern, water- 
virgins by the Germans ; but, in spite of these pretty 
appellations, are the tyrants of the surface of the ponds ; 
they seize and tear to pieces all other insects, including 
butterflies and mosquitoes, and will clear a house of the 
common fly. They are cruel, rapacious and insatiable, 
and I do not know of their ever being used as bait for 
trout. 

The pJiryganea, or water-moth, is one of the favorites 
of the fly-fisher. Its grubs surround themselves with a 
case formed of wood or grass, and are used by him as 
bait under the name of caddis-worms. They are the 
favorite food of the trout in early spring. But the 
ephemeridce include most of the specimens imitated by 
the fisherman. The larvse of these live in the water, for 
one or more years, and then, swimming to the surface, 
suddenly change into winged insects, delicate and beau- 
tiful. They sometimes appear in myriads, their dead 
bodies covering the water. A few make a second change 
after flying about for a time, and crawl out of their skins 
once more, leaving their old clothes, to all appearance 
perfect, sticking to a tree or fence. On their first appear- 



INSECTS. 293 

ance they are said to be in the psevdimago state, and to 
them the name duns is applied by the fly-fisher ; when 
they change to the imago or perfect fly, they are called 
piscatorially spinners. There are exceptions to this uni- 
formity, as with the May-flies ; the green drake is the 
pseudimagO) and the grey drake the imago. 

The phryganidm and ephemeridce are easily distin- 
guished ; in the former the wings lie close along the 
back, projecting beyond the body ; the antennae or 
feelers are long, and there are no whisks ; in the latter 
the wings stand upright from the body like a butterfly's, 
the antennas are very short, and there are two, or occa- 
sionally three, long delicate whisks. 

The phryganidm attach their eggs to the foliage over- 
hanging the water, whence upon hatching the larvae fall, 
and immediately proceed to construct, of twigs or gravel, 
miniature houses like a snail's shell, where they reside in 
peace and safety. These cases are lined with silk, spun 
from the insect's mouth, and are so light as not seriously 
to impede its swimming and rambling in search of food, 
and being open at both ends, allow him a view of the 
outside world. The larvae live mainly on aquatic plants, 
and when the proper time arrives, they close the ends of 
their houses with a species of grating, and commence the 
dormant state of the pupa. In this they remain a few 
days, and then emerging from their case, they ascend to 
the surface, burst their skin, and fly away in their perfect 
state of beauty. 

The ephemeridw deposit their eggs in the water, where 
they soon hatch, and where the grub, which lives usually 
on clay or vegetable matter, resides, occasionally for 



294 INSECTS. 

several years, hiding under stones or in holes in the mud 
It then becomes a pupa, and after accomplishing its time, 
rises to the surface, throws off its skin, and flies away, 
bearing the name of dun ; it shortly alights on a tree or 
fence, and sheds its entire skin, withdrawing even its 
delicate wings and minute whisks from their previous 
covering. Its colors in the second stage are usually more 
brilliant, and under the name spinner it enjoys the plea- 
sures of life, perpetuates its species and dies in a few 
hours. While laying its eggs, it will be noticed either 
resting on the water or floating up and down over it. 
Certain species can swim well under water, and I believe 
descend to the bottom to deposit their eggs. I have had 
numbers alight on my pants when I was wading a rapid 
stream, run down my legs to the bottom, crawl over the 
stones, and with a zig-zag motion swim against the cur- 
rent to the surface. Kocks are frequently seen darkened 
with flies, that on any sudden approach drop into the 
water and disappear. 

The ephejneridcB include the blue dun, which becomes 
the red spinner in its final state ; the marsh brown, which 
changes to the great red spinner ; the turkey brown, that 
is transformed into the little dark spinner ; the iron blue 
dun, that becomes the jenny spinner; the green and 
grey drakes, the July and August duns, and many others. 
The phryganidce comprise the sand and cinnamon flics 
and the grannom or green-tail, besides many un described. 
Of the diptera, which are distinguished by having but 
two wings, we have the cowdung-fly, the golden dun 
midge, and the black gnat ; of the beetles, the peacock 
and fern flies and marlow buzz; of the hymenoptera, the 



INSECTS. 



291 



red ant and orange-fly; and occasionally crickets and 
grasshoppers are imitated. 

These are a few, and but a few, of the beautiful insects 
that sport around or upon our lovely lakes and streams ; 
the advancing heat of Spring warms them into life : they 
burst forth, enchanting man with their beauty, and gaily 
pass a few days or hours, surrounded by innumerable 
dangers, which they seem never to heed. One kind sue- 
ceeds another as the summer advances, usually the more 
gaudy during the greatest heat, till they crowd the 
ponds, the air, the bushes with indescribable brilliancy. 
I have seen, toward evening, yellow sallies appear in 
myriads, their dead bodies literally covering the water ; 
and in the St. Lawrence rivers, dead eel-flies lie in such 
masses as to give the effect of sea-weed. 

It is very desirable that fishermen should, for their 
own sakes as well as the sake of science, pay more atten- 
tion to the habits and peculiarities of these insects. The 
study of nature in its minute productions is wonderful ; 
the observations of individuals combined is of great 
value, and adds immensely to the general store of know- 
ledge ; something more would be effected than the mere 
pleasure of taking a large mess, and the reproach of 
idleness removed from our enjoyments. To be sure, the 
men of science, by the use of ridiculous foreign names 
and the confounding of a confused and worthless system, 
have done all they can to discourage such an undertaking 
and repel such aid ; but every one can note the pecu- 
liarities that are heretofore mentioned, can even readily 
preserve a specimen and mark the times and manner of 
their appearance and the length of their duration, and 



296 



INSECTS. 



though he may fail to obtain the scientific name, can 
determine the species and ascertain the habits of a few 
members of the most wonderful, intricate, and interest- 
ing portion of the creation. 





CAMP LIFE. 297 



CHAPTER XXIX 



CAMP LIFE. 



One of the most important matters that demand the 
sportsman's attention, is the equipment he should take 
with him to make his life in the woods pleasant. He will 
have many annoyances and even hardships to encounter, 
and should be as well prepared to meet them as circum- 
stances will permit. The following directions are founded 
upon the idea he intends to retire to the wilderness, far 
from the abode of man, where he will have to trust for 
his support to his own exertions, and although many of 
them may seem superfluous, and to the robust may savor 
of effeminacy, to those who desire real comfort they will 
prove acceptable. 

The great pest of the wild woods is — not tigers nor 
panthers, not bears nor wolves, not even snakes — but 
something far smaller but infinitely more terrible — the 
Black Fly ! If it were possible for the uninitiated to 
conceive or the pen to describe the horrors conveyed in 
these words, I should endeavor to record them. Think 
of the rack, the boot, the thumb-screw, the wheel ; think 
of being rent asunder by wild horses, or torn in bits with 
hot pincers ; think of the tortures of the inquisition, or 
the cruel fanaticism of India, and smile ; they do not 
compare with the black fly. When mosquitoes hover 

13 



298 CAMP LIFE - 

round you clay and night, when they fill the air you 
breathe and deafen your ears with their hum, when your 
hands, face and body are covered with itching lumps, it 
is hard to bear. But mosquitoes are comparatively quiet 
in the sun-light, and are partially affected by smoke ; 
they can be influenced by a smudge, can be frightened 
off and sometimes killed ; they do not compare with the 
sand-fly. 

The latter, almost invisible to the naked eye, comes in 
absolute myriads ; it settles upon every inch of exposed 
flesh ; it creeps into every crevice; it cannot be frightened 
away, but must be brushed off; its worst attacks are at 
night, when tired nature is pining for a little rest ; its 
bite does not itch, but burns like fire, till face, hands and 
neck feel as though they had been scalded. But the 
sand-fly, bad as he is, can be persuaded out of your tent 
by a fire ; he does not abound except in sandy localities ; 
his bite does not draw blood, nor raise a lump, and is not 
permanent ; he does not compare with the black fly. 

The latter comes without a warning note ; he bites till 
the blood runs in a stream, and inflicts the sharpest pain ; 
he clings fast till he is absolutely rubbed off, and crawls 
up your sleeve or pants or down your neck ; he loves 
not the fire, nor fears the smoke ; he cannot be enticed 
nor driven away. The mosquito comes numerous as the 
rain-drops in a shower ; the sand-fly as the motes in sun- 
light ; but the black fly like the sand of the desert when 
the simoom is raging. Resignation can endure the first, 
stoicism the second, but nothing the last. 

All three of these pests are found abundantly in the 
woods, and without being prepared for them, instead of 



CAMP LIFE. 299 

pleasure, the sportsman's trip would be one long torture. 
People have been known to be completely disfigured by 
their bites, and I have had my neck as thoroughly gir- 
dled as though it had been done with a hot iron. Their 
bite inflames the blood, and if accompanied with the free 
use of ardent spirits, may produce unpleasant conse- 
quences. Let no man through foolhardiness brave their 
attacks, thinking he can rough it and not give way 
before such pitiful insects ; as brave and strong men as 
ever lived have had their pleasure destroyed by these 
curses of our country, and he will repent his rashness, if 
not in sack-cloth and ashes, in blood and misery. I 
have seen a hard-working man so worn out by their 
attacks as to fall fast asleep standing up leaning against 
a rock in a hot July sun, that by its excessive warmth 
had for the moment driven the torments away. He wore 
a veil, but not being properly arranged, the flies could 
climb up its folds, and it was little protection. 

One may well ask how is it possible to defend oneself 
from such irrepressible villains ; nor can it be done per- 
fectly ; with the best precautions there will be enough 
to try nerve and temper. Gauntlets of leather drawn 
above the wrists over the coat sleeve will, though rather 
warm, eifectu ally protect the hand, and when oppressive, 
may be cooled by being dipped in water. A veil is the 
best thing for the face ; a piece of elastic run round the 
top will enable you to slip it over your straw hat and 
fasten it above the brim, which will keep it out from the 
face ; a spring wire or whalebone hoop sewed in a few 
inches below, will keep it off your nose, and another 
piece of elastic round the bottom will hold it tight around 



300 



CAMP LIFE. 



your cravat, so that the flies cannot make their way 
beneath it ; or the latter may be omitted to enable you 
to wipe your face and rub off those stragglers that will 
find their way in, notwithstanding your precautions. 
There is a light substance called tissue, that makes a 
cool but delicate veil, and is preferable to the ordinary 
barege, and for mosquitoes and black flies, bobinet is 
still lighter, but sand-flies might pass the meshes. 

Various ointments have been tried with partial suc- 
cess ; among them, tar ointment has lately become con- 
spicuous, as also oil with a few drops of creosote, but 
my favorite has always been a mixture of the oil of pen- 
nyroyal with an equal amount of almond or sweet oil ; 
this is both cleanly and effectual, and need only be 
renewed once a day. But remember it must be the 
oil and not the essence of pennyroyal, which latter is 
utterly worthless. Care must be taken with it, as with 
the others, not to let them run into the eyes, as they will 
produce unpleasant smarting. This composition is death 
on black flies, and quite successful against mosquitoes ; 
but it is well, also, to be provided with tar ointment, 
which will not spill if the bottle is broken. 

For clothes, the best suit is of strong duck, heavy 
enough to resist an able-bodied mosquito, but as loose as 
possible, so that warm flannels, of which every descrip- 
tion should be taken in abundance, can be worn beneath. 
Flannel coats, shirts and drawers or pantaloons can be 
crowded into a small space, and are excellent for keep- 
ing out cold, and are not rendered unpleasant by moist- 
ure. It must be borne in mind that the Summers in 
Canada are occasionally absolutely cold, and for weeks 



CAMP LIFE. 



301 



in July, I have shivered in every coat and flannel I had 
with me. 

Moccasins are the things for the canoe, but if you try 
to clamber over rocks or wade streams in them, your 
feet will be bruised and cut severely. It is advisable to 
wear stout ankle gaiters that lace up, with heavy iron- 
nailed slippers that may be fastened with a strap and 
buckle over them, after you have left the canoe, and by 
means of which you can cling to the rocks without slip- 
ping so frequently as you otherwise would. You will 
wear a straw hat, of course, and where mosquitoes are 
not innumerable, your flannel underclothes will make a 
delightful boating suit. Never use anything but woollen 
socks for any sort of hard walking, and by having your 
net handle shod with iron, and carrying it in one hand, 
you will make your way among the slippery rocks with 
comparative safety. 

The bedding should consist of plenty of blankets, and 
one or two of them coated with India rubber and ren- 
dered waterproof, to keep off the moisture that will 
always rise from the ground at night, to wrap the rest of 
your clothes in, and to protect them and yourself from 
rain and wet. A stout leather strap and buckle is neces- 
sary for the latter purpose. The best tent is a circular 
one without any ridge-pole, but supported by a rope run 
through a pulley attached to three long poles cut in the 
woods, and placed in the shape of a tripod above. The 
pins are driven into the cloth itself, and hold it so close 
to the ground that no insects can penetrate beneath, 
while a flap effectually closes the door. There is a hole 
for ventilation at the top, whicl\ in a rain, may be closed 



302 CAMP LIFE. 

witli a canvas cap. A stout post may be set up in the 
centre with a few nails on which to hang clothes. This 
tent should only be used at a permanent camp ; and for 
travelling, the ordinary tent with a ridge-pole, as more 
accurately described, hereafter, is preferable ; a piece of 
oiled cloth laid over sticks planted slanting in the ground, 
will keep off the rain and dew. 

A round tent of twenty-four feet in circumference will 
not accommodate more than two men luxuriously, where- 
as one of double that circumference will hold, live times 
the number. A large tent is a great comfort and not 
much trouble. A separate tent should of course be 
taken for your men, and another simple one for a make- 
shift and a dining-room. To arrange the latter is your 
first care on arriving at your permanent camping-ground, 
the table is of bark, either birch or spruce, nailed fast to 
posts, and shielded by some protection from the rain ; 
the seats are either a large log or the barrels you have 
brought with you to carry stores and fish, or else stools 
ingeniously chipped from the trunks of trees with the 
branches for legs. A dressing-stand is then arranged, 
with a wash-basin made of birch bark ; the fire-place is 
rigged up with a ridge-pole supported on two notched 
sticks, and with a hooked withe to support the kettle, 
and. your sylvan home is furnished. 

To support and gratify the inner man, it is well to 
have with you all conceivable little delicacies, such as 
nutmegs, allspice, preserved fruits, meats and vegetables, 
sweet oil, lemons and raisins, sardines, chocolate, citric 
acid and ginger ; but the necessaries are clear salt pork, 
flour, rice, oat-meal and Indian-meal, coffee, tea, brown 



CAMP LIFE. 



303 



*nd white sugar, red and black pepper, fine and coarse 
Bait, butter, sauces, preserved and fresh eggs, solidified 
milk, ales and ardents according to consumption, pota- 
toes, smoked beef, pickles, piccalilly, matches, the 
essence of coffee, bacon, ham, dried beans and peas, 
hominy, cigars, onions, bread, crackers, molasses, tobacco, 
desiccated meats and soups. Many of these articles may 
be advantageously stowed in the barrels intended for 
packing fish, but the butter should be put up in air-tight 
jars in small quantities, and may in hot weather be 
buried under water in the sand. The oil tried out of the 
pork is usually used for frying ; but if you have sufficient 
butter the latter is infinitely preferable. 

For cooking you will need an iron pot and boiling ket- 
tle, tin kettles fitting inside of one another, a frying-pan 
with a handle like the kettle, a coffee-pot, some knives 
and tin plates, cups, spoons, forks and deep dishes, and 
above all an oyster broiler. The latter has thin wires, 
and, having two surfaces, can be turned more readily 
than a gridiron. It should be used extensively : fish and 
game split open and broiled, Avell basted with butter, are 
undeniable, and will be found a pleasant change from the 
eternal fry. Large fish may be boiled and served up 
with a little of the liquor strengthened with a teaspoon- 
ful of Worcestershire sauce. The greatest difficulty 
will be found with the bread ; the latter may be kept a 
couple of weeks, and when excessively dry, by steaming 
in the pot will be rendered eatable, but not good. Ship 
biscuit must be the main reliance for a long tramp. 
Before taking your departure, if you could obtain a few 
lessons in cooking from some elderly lady friend whoso 



30-t CAMP LIFE. 

youth lias not been so entirely devoted to dress as to pre- 
vent her knowing something of her household duties, and 
will carry with you a few simple recipes, you will not 
regret it. 

As no one can be certain of perfect health or freedom 
from accident, it is well to be provided with plenty of 
sticking and court plaster, cholera medicine and Rochelle 
salts ; but generally the fine exercise and open air are a 
brave preventive against sickness. Do not forget brown 
soap to wash the dishes, candles for light in the evening, 
and cream of tartar and soda to make the flour rise. 

The most necessary tools are an axe, a hatchet, one of 
Aiken's patent diminutive awl tool-chests, with which to 
mend broken rods, needles and thread to mend torn 
clothes, some rosin to mend the canoes, and a supply of 
various sizes of nails for numerous purposes, while a file 
and sharpening stone will be found useful additions. An 
india-rubber water-proof bag is admirable as a receptacle 
for clothes or blankets, which should be heavy, and a 
tin wash-basin and an air-pillow will be great additional 
comforts. Fresh eggs may be conveniently stowed in 
the barrels of coarse salt used for curing fish. 

Of the foregoing there are none you can comfortably 
omit, and besides them there are plenty you would do 
well to have ; but the judgment and taste of each indi- 
vidual will suggest the additions. 

As one of the first objects will be to preserve the fish 
you catch, a preparation of eight ounces of sugar, two 
ounces of salt, half an ounce of brown pepper, well 
rubbed into fish from which the back bone has been re- 
moved, and which are allowed to dry in the sun, will 



CAMP LIFE. 3Q5 

preserve them over a month. They should be packed in 
barrels with layers of bark between, and will prove more 
edible than when simply smoked ; by smoking they may 
be kept for years, and the fisherman long have the proud 
pleasure of offering to friend at breakfast a little of the 
salmon he killed and smoked himself the previous Sum- 
mer in Canada. 

In warm weather, fish merely salted cannot be kept 
long, and pickling in brine utterly destroys their flavor ; 
but if the latter method must be adopted, a pickle of two 
parts salt and one part common brown sugar will keep 
them forever. Before cooking, however, they should be 
well soaked. Pickling in vinegar with a few cloves is 
probably the best mode where it is possible. 

The gum for mending the canoes — and it is surprising 
how large a hole it will fill — is made of one part rosin 
to three parts balsam gum, fused together. If the aper- 
ture is very extensive, a piece of linen saturated with 
melted gum should be applied. In New Brunswick and 
Maine it is usual to mix rosin and grease, which answers 
every purpose. ■ 

To smoke fish, it is necessary to salt them in a tub, 
where they can form a brine, and leave them thus for 
two days, and then hang them in a smoke-house, not 
too near the fire, for as many weeks, when they are to be 
packed in layers, separate. Fish are soused by being 
partially boiled, and having vinegar boiled in copper 
kettles mixed with allspice and poured over them. Iron 
turns the vinegar black, and hence this mode cannot be 
pursued in the woods. Small fish may be headed, 
cleaned and packed in a jar, which is then filled up with 

13* 



306 CAMP LIFE - 

vinegar and allspice and baked all night. Next day 
fresh vinegar is added to make up for the evaporation, 
and lard is run in to exclude the air. They keep well 
and taste excellent. 

An air-tight ean is now made, with a cover that fits 
into a trough which can be filled with melted rosin. 
This may be used over and over again, and is peculiarly 
adapted to the woods. It must be hermetically sealed 
while the contents are boiling, but without sealing might 
be advantageously used to protect sugar and such things 
from the wet. The same cover is applied to brown ear- 
then jars, which are well suited for carrying butter. 

Literature will be found a great resource in the woods, 
and although Harper's last Monthly may be permissible 
on account of the shortness of its stories, nothing should 
be taken of too interesting a character, lest it divert 
attention from the main object in view. This work will 
be found extremely safe. 

In giving the foregoing directions it is assumed that 
the reader intends to travel with canoes, and does not 
expect to make any extensive portages, or, as they are 
called in American, " carries ;" for if the men are ex- 
pected to back the traps for any considerable distance, 
the only admissible articles are fishing-tackle, penny -royal, 
an axe, the tents, pork, ship biscuit, tea, sugar, pepper, 
salt, tea-kettle, matches and a frying-pan. The slightest 
weight becomes a mountain on such occasions, and it will 
require stout muscles to carry enough for their own sus- 
tenance. In salmon-fishing this is rarely necessary, 
unless a man would be an explorer, and the adventurous 
are always sufferers. 



CAMP LIFE. 



307 



As it is possible none of my reader's female acquaint- 
ance have ever soiled their rosy fingers — Heaven save 
the mark! — with domestic cookery, an outline of the 
theory of that science may be advantageous. There are 
certain well known rules that have no exceptions, unless 
in the hands of a genius, and which apply to classes and 
divisions of edibles. For instance, a little salt must always 
be thrown into the water before anything is boiled in it. 
Thus, again, with the great class of fried cakes : milk 
thickened with flour, and an egg or two, and a pinch of 
salt, makes griddle : add squash, boiled and mashed, and 
you have squash cakes ; employ boiled and mashed rice 
in place of squash, and there is produced the delicate 
rice cake ; introduce Indian-meal, which has been first 
scalded, and you have Indian cakes. This class of cakes 
is made by pouring the preparation, in large tablespoon- 
fuls at a time, on a greased griddle or frying-pan. In 
broiling, frying, roasting, baking, or stewing, salt and 
pepper are first rubbed on the article to be cooked ; in 
broiling, baking, or roasting, it is basted with butter or 
grease, and in frying the butter is first put in the pan 
and heated. Potatoes boiled, and cut thin when cold, 
are delicious fried. In stewing, a little water is poured 
over the meat, and the cooking is done with a cover on. 

Frying is with butter or grease alone ; stewing with 
grease and a little water ; and boiling with water alone. 
You determine when things are done by the color and 
trying how they resist a fork. An excellent chowder is 
made by putting pork, fish, cracker, meat, clams, and 
anything else that is handy, with vegetables, sufficient 
seasoning, and a little water, and stewing it well. Stew- 



308 CAMP LTFE - 

ing can hardly be carried to excess, as from the closeness 
of the vessel the nutritions particles cannot escape. 

The best omelette the tyro can make, and excellent it 
will be found, is by frying eggs, which are first beaten 
up and seasoned, till they are not quite firm. They 
must be stirred all the while to keep them from burning, 
and if they are done hard are ruined. 

A white sauce is made of flour and butter well mixed 
together, stirred into hot water and allowed to boil for 
a few minutes ; a hard boiled egg may be chopped up 
and added if desired. This is the appropriate sauce for 
salmon. A brown gravy is made from the drippings of 
the meat, and some burnt sugar or browned crumbs add- 
ed and warmed up. 

The following is an accurate recipe for griddle cakes : 
one pint of boiled rice, three tablespoonfuls of flour, two 
tablespoonfuls of milk and two eggs. "While for fried 
cakes it will be observed that flour, milk and eggs are 
used, for ordinary cakes flour, butter and eggs are neces- 
sary, with sugar added for sweetening. Thus, a good 
cake is made of five cups of flour, three cups of sugar, 
two cups of butter and four eggs. This cake must be 
baked slowly, which could be done in a piece of birch 
bark inclosed in heated stones, allowing room for it to 
rise. 

The simplest and best way to boil a salmon is to slash 
him on the sides with vertical cuts to the bone, having 
previously drawn, opened and cleaned him, to wash him 
well in the nearest spring, put him into boiling watei 
sufficiently salt to bear an egg, and cook him seven or 
eight minutes to every pound of weight, and serve him 



CAMP LIFE. 3Q9 

with some of the water he was cooked in foi sauce. The 
latter may be thickened with flour and butter. He 
should, like all other fish, be cooked fresh. 

Broiled fish, or, if they are large, slices of fish, cook 
better wrapped in a piece of paper oiled ; and the one- 
half of a salmon spread out, tacked on a board and roast- 
ed by a hot fire is excellent ; and in cooking small fish 
suspended by a twig near the fire, Frank Forester recom- 
mends that a small stick with a piece of pork threaded 
on it, should be inserted to keep the belly open, and a 
biscuit placed below to catch the drippings. A hot fire 
will cook a fish thus in ten minutes. 

To bake a fish he is wrapped in oiled paper or birch 
bark, and placed in an oven built of stones laid in a hol- 
low, and from which the fire has just been removed, 
other heated stones are placed above him, and the fire is 
raked back over the whole. 

It will be hardly necessary to remark, in connection 
with these directions, that fish must be cleaned and have 
the gills removed and be well washed and scaled before 
they can be cooked ; that when the word butter is used, 
and my reader have no butter, he must use such grease 
or oil as he may have ; that in all cases he can add such 
sauces and spices to his condiments as he may relish and 
possess. Among all the variety of prepared sauces, an- 
chovy for salmon and Worcestershire for meats are the 
best, but lemon alone gives an excellent flavor. 

To bread anything, whether it be fried oysters or fried 
eels, dip them in the yolk of egg beaten up, and then in 
cracker pounded fine, or they may first be dipped in flour 
and afterward in egg and cracker. 



310 CAMP LIFE. 

Tea is made by pouring a little hot water on the leaves 
and allowing it to draw by the fire for ten minutes and 
then filling up with hot water. Coffee, by putting the 
coffee, mixed with the yolk of an egg, into boiling water 
and allowing it to boil once — no more, on your life. If 
you do not wish to use an egg, put in a teaspoonful of 
cold water immediately on taking it from the fire. This 
is done to clear it. Chocolate is made by melting a cake 
broken into small pieces in warm water, adding a cup of 
milk after it is perfectly smooth, and boiling for twenty 
minutes. An excellent tea is made of yellow birch bark. 

Bread, especially if it is a little stale, is much improved 
by toasting, which should be done by approaching it close 
to the fire, even throwing it on the coals and burning the 
outside almost black. If buttered and covered with 
brown sugar and eaten hot it makes an excellent dessert. 

If salt pork is to be broiled, it should be cut thin, and 
may be soaked well in water, dipped in Indian-meal, so 
as to bread it, and then broiled or fried brown. It can 
be used in soup by being boiled in two waters. 

Smoked beef is good if stewed a few minutes with a 
lump of butter mixed with flour and enough milk to 
coyer the whole, which may be seasoned with pepper. 
Fried fish that has become cold can be revived in the 
same way ; the flour may be omitted and some salt must 
be added. 

An onion may be boiled in bread sauce, and removed 
before serving, or pepper may be added ; celery chopped 
and cooked in a stew or sauce adds a peculiarly pleasant 
flavor. Tough meat of all kinds should be stewed, and 
except salt pork, meat should be rarely fried. The fore- 



CAMP LIFE. 311 

going are soon acquired by practice, and experience will 
suggest many valuable alterations ; but they are all the 
directions necessary to make camp life not merely com- 
fortable, but by the aid of a good appetite extremely 
pleasant. Cookery is no mean science, and a knowledge 
of it will prove interesting and advantageous not only 
in the wilderness, but so long as Irish cooks shall rule our 
kitchens and ruin our digestions, in the realms of civil- 
ization. 

To unite economy in space and weight with the utmost 
amount of accommodation, the following sized tents will 
be found to answer for two fisherman and five guides or 
even four fishermen. 

The tent of the gentlemen should be four cloths deep, 
each cloth of twenty-six inches, and cut twenty feet long, 
so that there should be ten feet on each side, of the ridge- 
pole ; the wall takes about three feet, at the upper edge 
of which a small piece is tabled in where the bolt-rope 
passes, to shed the rain. There is an extra strip of can- 
vas along the ridge, with two small grummets in each 
end, inside the tent, to receive the poles ; but there is no 
bolt-rope except along the wall, and there must be no 
cross seams, as they are sure to leak. A shoulder is left 
on the poles, which are thrust into the grummets and a 
spreader is forced up between them and sustained as a 
ridge-pole by a notch cut in each. There are three tent 
ropes on each side, with a stout line and toggle, or but- 
ton where they join the tent, to trice up the walls in 
warm weather ; the doors, which are at both ends, lap 
well over, and are secured by a strong galvanized hook 
and eye. and are closed with strings. Along the bottom 



312 CAMP LIFE. 

of the wall are rings to peg it down, and the width is 
the same as the depth. This tent sets up eight feet high, 
and is quickly pitched if the poles are retained, which 
can be readily done, as they are convenient in the bottom 
of the canoe to keep other baggage from the wet. The 
size may be diminished to eight feet square, but will be 
found rather cramped, especially in wet weather, when the 
fisherman is more or less compelled to stay indoors, and 
will not permit of what is often desirable, accommodat- 
ing a visitor. 

For the men, a simple strip of canvas eight feet square, 
with sloping sides, is all that is required. In fact, in cold 
weather an open tent with a fire in front is preferable to 
all others, and can be kept as warm as an oven. A Sib- 
ley tent has many advantages, but must be large, and is 
troublesome to transport. In cold weather, logs should 
be cut down and laid up with mud like a hut, or boards 
driven into the ground close together to form the foun- 
dation, and the tent set over them. It will be warmer 
and more roomy. 

"Where there is naught to be shot, and as little to be 
caught, no man has any business in the woods ; but as 
bad marksmanship or scarcity of game may cause the 
first, or a rise of water the second, it is well to know 
that a pound of biscuit and a pound of pork per day is 
all that a man requires for his support. A fair allowance 
however would be, considering it merely as an addition 
to the proceeds of the gun and rod, a pound of biscuit 
or bread, and half a pound of pork. "Where flour is 
taken the amount of bread may be reduced ; but as the 
staff of life occasionally becomes wet and moldy, it is 



CAMP LIFE. 313 

better to be well supplied. Half a pound of solidified 
milk will last one man ten days, a pound of tea thirty, 
and half a pound of tobacco one week. Eight pounds 
of brown sugar, the same of butter, a bushel of potatoes, 
and two gallons of molasses are sufficient for two anglers 
and five men one week. It is not customary to give 
men milk, sugar or coffee ; they are carried only for the 
gentlemen, and the above calculations are made on that 
footing. These computations may be relied on, and will 
be found extremely useful ; although the luxuries of camp 
life may fail, the necessaries must not be exhausted. 
There is no fun in having to send a couple of your best 
men fifty miles for provisions, when salmon are rising or 
a long journey is to be made. Time devoted to pleasure 
is precious ; a day wasted is indeed a loss. 



And now, good reader, farewell. In looking over this 
book, I perceive how far short I have fallen of my own 
expectations, and feel how greatly I must have disap- 
pointed yours. Much has been badly said, much omit- 
ted, and no doubt much unintentionally misstated. 
Opinions differ, and experience leads to contrary results. 
There are game fish, and modes of taking them, with 
which doubtless I am unacquainted, and yet I hope you 
will find something here that has not been written before. 
My aim has been to induce sportsmen to study the habits 
and proper designation of the different varieties of game 
they pursue, to apply the appropriate names and distin- 
guish the various species. My hope is to elevate thei* 



314 



CAMP LIFE. 



purpose above the mere indulgence of that peculiar 
innate pleasure experienced in the chase, and at the same 
time, if possible, to press upon the attention of natural- 
ists the vast assistance they might obtain from their 
humbler brethren by reducing their language to the 
standard of ordinary comprehension ; and above all, to 
insist, by every consideration of humanity, upon the 
absolute necessity of preventing the cruel, wanton, and 
untimely destruction of the beautiful inhabitants of our 
woods and waters. These have been my objects ; it is 
for you to judge how far I have succeeded. But, reader, 
let me warn you : neither praise nor dispraise overmuch. 
In either case I shall write another book, to justify the 
former or disprove the latter. 




APPENDIX. 



REELS, AND LINES. 



Since the body of this book was written, the tackle- 
makers have taken it into their heads to give the fishing 
world the most wonderful assortment of flies that the 
mind of man could have conceived, and far beyond any- 
thing that nature could in her most festive moods have 
produced. I give them not because I believe any such 
assortment to be necessary for the angler or tempting to 
the fish, but because they are so wonderful in themselves 
and so very attractive to the tyro who fancies that beauty 
of tackle is going to produce fulness of creel. I am in- 
debted for them less to my own knowledge than to the 
kindness of Mr. W. Holberton who, to excellence as a 
fly-fisherman, has had the good fortune to add experience 
in the business. So firmly have some of them established 
their reputation that a modern book on angling would not 
be complete without them. 

The strongest flies are tied with reversed wings, as they 
will last much longer. Use highest-quality sproat hooks 
and selected white or mist-colored gut snells. Salmon 
flies are now often tied on small double hooks, instead of 
on large ones, as formerly. For salmon flies even more 
care should be taken in choosing the gut, as not only is 
the fish larger, but the loss of a salmon is more serious 
than the loss of a trout. 

The following list comprises all those of any value sold 
in the shops, whether copied from nature or evolved from 



316 APPENDIX. 

the inner consciousness of the tackle-maker. For the 
smaller streams in the Middle and Eastern States, the 
coachman, royal-coachman, grizzly-king, Abbey, Mon- 
treal, Imbrie, brown-hen, white-miller, orange-miller, 
yellow-sally, black-gnat, great-dim, queen of the water, 
Hooker, golden-spinner, Cahill, silver-black, professor, 
march-brown, jenny-spinner, red or dun fox, silver- 
brown, hare's-ear or dark-fox, blue-dun, dusty-miller, 
coch-y-bon-dhu or marlow-buzz, gray-gnat, cow-dung, 
Beaver-Kill, grannom,Ronald's stone, brown-stone, and the 
various colored hackles. On some waters the addition of 
jungle-cock's feathers to the above will prove very killing. 

On Long Island waters the favorites are the cow-dung, 
scarlet ibis, Cahill, Imbrie, yellow-sally, great-dun, hare's- 
ear, queen of the water, black and gray gnats, golden- 
spinner, silver-black, grizzly-king, professor, Abbey, Mon- 
treal, and the different colored hackles. Hooks for the 
above lists should be numbers 8 to 12. 

For the Adirondacks, Maine, and the Canadas, light and 
dark Montreal, Abbey, scarlet-ibis, professor, great-dun, 
brown-hen, Brandreth, cock-robin or Murray, silver-doctor, 
Parmacheeny belle, St. Patrick, McAlpin, Lawrence, Hol- 
berton, Rangely, Molechunkamunk, Mooseluck-maguntic, 
Beatrice, No. 8, Round-lake, Bemes, tinselled-ibis, Elliot, 
Megalloway, silver-black, Canada, blue-jay, Jenny-Lind, 
and the hackles. Also any of the above, with the feathers 
of the jungle-cock added. They are to be tied on hooks 
numbered from 3 to 5, and may be reinforced by a short 
piece of gut tied in alongside of the other and extending 
above the hook, making the snell double for half an inch 
beyond the head of the fly. 

For black-bass any of the large flies previously named 



APPENDIX. 317 

may be used, and the following are particularly good: 
turkey, scarlet-ibis, Page, Brandreth, Fergusson, grizzly- 
king, Montreal, silver-doctor, Rube Wood, Lord Baltimore, 
Whitney, Elliot, Rangely, Holberton, humble-bee, Gov. 
Alvord, and white-miller. The hooks for these should be 
from numbers 1 to 4. For trolling, the same tied with 
double snells may be used on hooks from 2 / o to 1. 

For salmon-fishing, the following are recommended: 
Fairy, Dovey-queen, black-dose, Imbrie's-witch, gipsy, 
butcher, fiery-brown, bonne-bouche, silver-gray, silver- 
doctor, orange-doctor, black-doctor, lion, Dunkeld, blue- 
tansy, gold-finch, dusty-miller, Wilmot, thunder-and-light- 
ning, blue-Highlander, parson, Wingfield-red, Popham, 
Jock-Scott, and Durham-ranger. 

Lines are now made in an endless variety and of a vastly 
improved quality. For salt-water fishing, linen lines are 
generally used, as they stand the action of the chloride of 
sodium better than silk. For heavy work, such as cod- 
fishing, trolling for blue-fish, and deep sea-fishing, braided 
and hawser-laid cotton lines are the best. The lines used 
by the anglers at West-Island, Pasque, Cuttyhunk, and 
other localities where large striped-bass are taken, are 
made of the choicest flax, hand-laid of from nine to 
eighteen threads, and notwithstanding their fineness, are 
marvels of strength. 

For fly-fishing for salmon, trout, and black-bass, the 
polished enamelled waterproof, tapered, silk lines have 
entirely superseded the old hair, and hair-and-silk lines. 
For fresh-water trolling and bait-fishing, there are the 
hard-braid linen lines and the oiled silk braided lines, and 
pure boiled or raw-silk for minnow-casting for black-bass, 
and so forth. 



318 APPENDIX. 

Good leaders are a very important portion for an 
angler's outfit, and more fish are lost through the use of 
poor gut and improper snelling than from any other cause. 
The best silk-worm gut from which leaders are made, 
comes from Spain, and should be carefully selected, only 
perfectly round and even strands being used. Anglers 
should discard any leader or snell that is at all rough or 
flat, or that has been dyed. Dyeing can be easily detected 
by its decided color, generally either a blue or greenish 
tinge, and the process injures the gut. A true mist-col- 
ored leader should be without any tinge other than a faint 
mist or water-color, which is obtained by staining, and 
not by dyeing. 

The hooks now generally preferred by anglers are the 
highest quality sproat and the forged O'Shaughnessy, the 
latter being used principally for striped-bass, blue-fish, and 
channel-bass. For the heavy fishing at Cuttyhunk, West- 
Island, Newport, and Karragansett Pier, the knobbed and 
needle-eyed O'Shaughnessy is the favorite. The highest 
quality sproat is used for black-bass, salmon and trout 
flies, and is rapidly becoming the favorite hook among 
expert anglers. The advantage of the highest-quality 
forged O'Shaughnessy hooks consists in the fact that not 
only are they made of the choicest steel, but that the forg- 
ing breaks every hook in which there is the slightest flaw, 
while the difference in price between them and inferior 
grades amounts to only one-third or one-half of a cent on 
a hook, an amount not worth considering under the cir- 
cumstances. The old-fashioned kirbed hooks are rapidly 
going out of favor. The sproat has been greatly im- 
proved lately, the line of draft is in direct line with the 
point, which is small and keen, and penetrates a fish's 



APPENDIX. 319 

mouth more easily than a clumsier hook. The barb, too, 
is small and gives less room for play and does not tear so 
large a hole as a coarser hook. When fishing with a light 
rod, this- is a great advantage both in striking and playing 
a fish. In fact it is almost impossible to drive a coarse 
large barbed hook through the tough mouth of a black- 
bass with the light rods that are now coining into favor.* 
For fly-fishing there is no rod like a well-made round, 
split bamboo ; but to be well made, and no other is really 
worth having, a round eight-piece split bamboo is an ex- 
pensive implement and costs a high price. But when 
well made it is not only a thing of beauty and a joy for- 
ever, but will stand an amount of exposure and hard work 
not to be obtained from inferior rods. It has not always 
been possible to obtain such implements in their per- 
fection, as some manufacturers who have not had the 
necessary experience, or who in their anxiety to j:>roduce a 
cheap article have slighted their work, have given the split 
bamboo rods a bad name. They should be made from the 
upper part of the canes alone, as in that part the nodes 
which give them their strength are the thickest. The 
outside or glazed part of the cane should come on the out- 
side of the rod, and the joints should be so perfect that 
they cannot be traced by the eye, as if there is the least 
opening water will get in and destroy the rod. While if 
thoroughly well finished, they are the best article of their 
kind, nevertheless greenheart, cedar and lancewood rods 
all have their admirers, and in skillful hands will do effi- 
cient work. Machine-made rods should be avoided by 



* Some of the illustrations in this volume have been furnished us by Messrs. 
Wm. C. Harris, and Abbey & Imbrie. 



320 APPENDIX. 

every angler who takes pride in his casting or his tools, no 
matter how cheap they are. The best proof of the supe- 
riority of the bamboo rod is the fact of its general use at 
all public tournaments where its power has been jjroved 
by a cast of over eighty feet with a four and a half ounce 
rod. 

In giving the weight of a trout rod, it should be stated 
whether the ordinary mountings are included, as they 
make a difference of several ounces. The fly-rod that in 
a tournament would be called a four or five-ounce rod, 
would in the hands of the sportsman be found to weigh 
nine or ten ounces. When a weight is given in these 
pages, the full weight of mountings is intended, so that a 
nine-ounce rod is what the professionals would call a 
five-ounce rod. 

Great strides have been made by professional fly-casters 
in the matter of length of cast since this book was first 
written. Then a cast of seventy feet was considered a 
very long reach, but now eighty-five feet have been cast 
with a rod of four and seven-eighths ounces, and eighty- 
seven feet with a twelve-ounce rod. The rods in these 
cases are heavy at the tip, and are not well adapted to ordi- 
nary fly-fishing and would soon tire out the strongest 
wrist. They are in all instances made out of split bamboo. 
In bass-casting, that is what is called Cuttyhunk fashion, 
the public trials have not been satisfactory, the casts not 
having been scored at much over one hundred and sixty 
feet. But there is no doubt that with the regulation 
weight of two and a half ounces, at least two hundred and 
twenty feet can be cast. To make very long casts with a 
fly, it is essential not only to have a stiff rod and to fasten 
on the droppers with short snells, but to put double gut at 



APPENDIX. 321 

the head of the stretcher-fly. Moreover, the flies must 
not be allowed to sink, but must be retrieved immediately 
in order to get the line well out behind, which is the great 
difficulty in distance-casting. In actual fishing the angler 
is considered an expert who alone and unaided can strike, 
play and land a five-pound trout or a fifteen-pound salmon. 
Those are tests of skill that far exceed casting ninety feet 
in an open pond with a top-heavy rod. 

Reels have kept up with the march of improvement in 
fishing tackle, and are now made much lighter and stronger 
than in days gone by. Hard rubber has taken the place 
of metal to a great extent, making the reel very much 
lighter. Aluminum has been tried, but, though very hard, 
it is a metal of poor texture, so that the screws do not 
hold, and the reels soon get loose and shaky, while at the 
same time it is expensive. There are several patented 
trout reels for getting large barrels to wind the line on 
quickly, or to expose it to the air so that it will not rot. 
Most of the fine reels are made of German silver, and 
with works as carefully constructed as those of a clock, 
for the striped bass reels must run with absolute perfec- 
tion. A valuable invention of Messrs. Abbey & Imbrie 
provides for the adjustment of the bearings, so that any 
wear can be readily taken up, and the reel kept in good 
condition without expense. It consists of the use of steel- 
screw pivots easily adjusted, which reduce the friction 
to a minimum. 

There is an endless variety of spoon baits now made 
for the angler to select from ; among them the most ad- 
mired are the "fluted spoons" and the "mottled pearl," 
including the new Florida pearl spinner, with a body of 
white pearl, combined with a mottled revolving spoon. 



322 APPENDIX. 

But the old-fashioned revolving silvered plate in its vari- 
ous forms is by no means superseded by these modern 
mysteries. 

The introduction of black-bass throughout the country 
has created a large demand for artificial baits. Live min- 
nows are often difficult to obtain, and the market is now 
well supplied with artificial minnows, frogs, dobsons, 
crickets, beetles, and grasshoppers. Of these baits, the 
" fairy " is the most successful. It is made of fish-skin, 
and has the scales of the real minnow preserved. It is as 
soft and flexible as the live bait, and will kill black-bass 
and pickerel when every other artificial bait fails. 

Of minnow gangs there is also a great variety, the latest 
and one of the best being the " St. Lawrence " gang. This 
has a thin baiting needle, which allows the most delicate 
minnow to live for hours, and has not the usual great 
number of treble hooks to make it troublesome and un- 
sightly for delicate fishing. 



INDEX* 



A. 

PA.GE 

Allowance of provisions 312 

Attihawmeg 147 

B. 

Bass, black 217 

Otsego 151 

rock 222 

Baits for trout 33 

Black Fly 297 

Blue-fish 153 

Boiestown 135 

C. 

Camp life 297 

stores 302 

C'entrarchus cetieus 222 

fasciatus 217 

Cisco 149 

Classification of fish 7 

Cooking 303, 307 

Coregonus albus 147 

Otsego 151 

Common Carp 163 

Crab bait 205 

Curing fish .304 

Cyprians carpio 163 

E. 

Ephemera 292 

Esox estor 164 

fasciatus 187 



Esox lucioides 181 

reticulatus 182 

tredecem radiatus 184 

F. 

Flies and knots 263 

for bass 283 

for salmon 263 

for trout 16 

Flies, Rods, etc., Appendix. 

G. 

Ghost of Deadman's Landing. ..126 

story of Abraham 129 

Glass-eye 224 

Green-fish 153 

Orystes nigricans , 217 

H. 

Horse mackerel 153 

I. 
Insects 285 

K. 
Knots 263 

L. 

Labrax lineatus 202 

Landing fish 28 

La Val 61 

lake 77 

Lucioperca americana 22i 



324 



INDEX. 



he. 

Mascallonge 164 

Mascanonga 164 

Marshpee 22 

Miramichi 120 

Moose story 131 

Iff. 

Neuroptera 291 

New Brunswick, trip to 116 

Nipisiquit 140 

O. 

Ohio salmon 225 

Otsego bass 151 

P. 

Perca labrax 202 

flavescens 228 

Perch, yellow 228 

Pickerel 198 

common 182 

great northern 181 

Long Island 187 

Pickering 22i 

Pike, federation 184 

of the lakes 221 

perch 224 

Propagation of fish 230 

Phryganea 292 

R. 

Roe of shad or salmon 201 

Rock-fish 202 

S. 
Salmon 88 



Salmon fishing 92, 102 

habits of 98 

rivers 167 

rivers, how to reach 

them Ill 

time for catching 94 

place for catching 94 

rod for 91 

Ohio 225 

Salmo salar 88 

irutta marina 41 

Sciena lineata 202 

Scollops 207 

Sea trout 41 

Shrimp bait 205 

Skipjack 153 

Smoking fish 305 

Snap-hook 176 

Snapping mackerel 157 

Spearing 209 

Spoons 174 

T. 

TemnodOH mltrator 155 

Tents 293, 311 

Thousand Isles 189 

Trimmers for pickerel 177 

Trout, American speckled, or 

brook 12 

flies for 16 

fly-fishing for 18 

baits for 23 

sea, white or silver.. 41 
white, or Scoodic 145 

W. 

White-fish 147 

trout 145 



